Konoha Summer Camp
by ThinkingAbstractThoughts
Summary: KakaYama fandom - Kakashi and Yamato get paired together to guide four kids, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Sai, through their experience in Konoha Summer Camp. Together they learn team skills and develop strong bonds with each other, however, their skills get put to the test. Will they be able to pull through? **Note, not all content is true to canon storyline
1. Chapter 1

"Ugh, I really don't want to do it." Groaned a young man, rolling his eyes and running his fingers through his hair. His peach toned skin complimented his unnaturally white colored hair nicely, making it appear as if his skin was glowing.

"Enough, Kakashi," bellowed a beautiful middle aged woman, her golden long hair and stern hazel eyes glistening in the sunlight; her eyebrow twitching in annoyance at the man who still only seemed like a boy. "You are twenty three years old. I know you're famous around here and what not, but it's time you started acting like you care."

Scoffing, Kakashi turned his back to her and started walking away. "Fine," he waved his hand, as if to brush off her comment, "but it's not my fault if something should happened." He knew nothing would happen, as he had been a part of ANBU since he was still a child, and was known for being responsible. He just didn't want to watch four kids as soon as he quit. He had a life to start planning out before he wanted to begin instructing. "Great..." he thought bitterly to himself, pathetically kicking a rock aside as he walked down the path to the entrance of the camp, "now I'm going to be in charge of a bunch of twelve year old brats." He scoffed again. "That Tsunade is lucky she's the Hokage."

ABOUT AN HOUR LATER

"Alright," Kakashi half sighed. "What are your names?"

Right as the boy with short black hair and pale skin was about to speak, a boy with blond hair, blue eyes, and an obvious complete lack of manners jumped up and shouted, "Naruto Uzumaki, here! I love ramen and one day I'm going to change the world!" He was wearing an orange T shirt and dark green shorts.

Everyone stared at him in silence. Kakashi had no words for this seemingly hopeless child. "I didn't ask what your interests were... but moving on." He pointed to the boy that Naruto cut off. "You. What's your name?"

"Oh..yes... I'm Sai." The boy was very soft spoken, and so pale that it was almost like the sun was reflecting right off of his skin. He wore a black tank top that was almost too short, and black shorts with a red trim on the bottom.

"Sai." He nodded. _What kind of a name is that?_ "And you?" He nodded his head towards the only female in the group, a pink haired girl with bright green eyes who kept staring at the kid next to her.

She didn't realize he had spoken to her. "Achem..." Kakashi cleared his throat obnoxiously loud, jolting her attention. "And you?" He asked again, almost in annoyance.

"Right! I'm Sakura Haruno! It's a pleasure to meet you!" She blurted out in embarrassment. She was wearing a red and white... was it a shirt? Or a dress? Kakashi didn't really know, nor did he really care. Regardless, it was long, and it had two slits on the sides to allow easier movement. She wore black knee-length spandex shorts underneath. _Not very practical attire, but it could be worse,_ Kakashi thought to himself.

"Last but not least..." he turned towards the boy who had been seemingly uninterested in all of this, wearing a dark blue shirt and black shorts to accompany it. _Well, by the looks of his face, at least I can say I know how he feels._ "Your name?"

"Sasuke Uchiha." He stated coolly, not even looking up towards Kakashi's face. "And you are Kakashi Hatake, right?"

Kakashi was taken aback, although he didn't show it. _This kid knows who I am? Come to think of it, he has the same family name as Itachi..._ He smiled gently and cocked his head to the side. "Yes, I am." He looked back towards the group as a whole. "I'll be your instructor." Little did he know he would be in charge of these kids for the rest of his life.

Just as he was about to state what the activities for the day were going to be, Tsunade and another young man appeared. This other person seemed only a few years younger than Kakashi, maybe eighteen or nineteen years old? He had layered brown hair that framed his face nicely, and big, dark eyes that seemed full of adventure. He was wearing Konoha's signature Jonin jacket and blue body armor.

"This is Yamato. He will be working with you, Kakashi," Tsunade let out a sly smile, as if she knew Kakashi would only be more agitated that he would have to work with yet another person. Yamato nodded curtly and let out a soft smirk.

"Nice to meet you, Kakashi Senpai."

Kakashi did a double take at the word "senpai." "S-senpai?" He stuttered, trying not to make it obvious that he was shocked. "But we've never-"

Yamato cut him off. "You were very popular in the academy, and in ANBU. All of us look up to you. It'll be a pleasure to work with you." He grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head out of embarrassment.

"Well I don't like it. Don't call me that."

"Sorry, Senpai."

"Ugh." Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Look, just don't get in my way, alright?"

Tsunade let out a boisterous laugh. "He won't be in your way. He's one of the best ninja in the village. He is one of the highest ranked members currently. Doesn't that remind you of someone?" She winked, acknowledging Kakashi's own accomplishments. Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"Alright, I will leave you to it!" She turned on her heel and started walking back towards the middle of the camp. "If you have any questions, I'll be in the camp head quarters." She waved as she walked away, looking back to smile at Kakashi. _This will be interesting,_ she thought to herself as she continued down the path.

 _Awesome,_ Kakashi thought bitterly. _Four kids and now this guy. Just fantastic._

"Kakashi Senpa-"

"I told you not to call me that," Kakashi barked.

"... What's on the agenda?" Yamato finished slowly.

Kakashi sighed heavily and pulled out a small book from his back pocket. This book was definitely not appropriate to have around the kids, but he figured they were probably all too stupid to read anyways.

"First, everyone will go to their assigned cabins and get their things situated. Then it'll be dinner, which is at seven, and then everyone will meet in the court yard for a bonfire and smores."

"SMORES?!" was the reply of all of the kids.

Yamato chuckled softly to himself and looked at Kakashi, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised, eager to hear his reply.

Kakashi closed his eyes for a moment, and then smiled softly.

"Yes, however I should mention that if you fail to behave yourself I will be sure to ban you from the court yard for the duration of your stay."

"EHHH?!" replied both Naruto and Sakura. Sai and Sasuke remained silent.

"That's right. Now go." Kakashi was over all of this already.

The kids ran off to their cabins, Naruto pushing in front of Sasuke and challenging him to a race to get to the cabin first. "You idiot! You don't even know where the cabin is!" Kakashi could hear Sasuke shout as they ran down the path.

Kakashi shook his head, and started reading his book again, forgetting that Yamato was still standing there.

Yamato stood with his arms crossed, tapping his fingers lightly on his biceps while looking Kakashi over. Never before had he seen such light hair up close, he had only ever been able to admire from afar. He was well aware that Kakashi paid him no mind, and therefore was not surprised when Kakashi didn't recognize him. He decided it would be best to act like they hadn't met before, anyways.

Yamato wondered if Kakashi's hair was naturally that light, or if it had been dyed that way, but didn't venture to ask. All he knew was that he wanted to be just like him; someone revered by the entire town. Everyone knew of Kakashi. He was almost jealous. Yamato could feel himself starting to become bitter, and shook the thoughts out of his head.

"So now what?" was all he could muster to say.

"Hmm?" Kakashi answered absently.

"Now what do we do?"

"Oh.." He closed the book with one hand and stood for a moment. "Well, I suppose since I'm stuck with you, we could go see who got assigned to be a counselor here and see what is it we are supposed to be doing."

"Alright." Yamato nodded, and started walking forward.

"Uhm," Yamato hesitated, "and where exactly is that supposed to be?"

Kakashi replied, "just follow me."


	2. Chapter 2

Inside of the mess hall, all the Jonin who had been assigned as counselors were getting dinner prepared, setting up tables and bringing in chairs. Kakashi and Yamato walked in, Kakashi paying no mind to what was going on as he continued to read his book, and Yamato observing everything and taking in their surroundings.

Yamato had seen some of these people before, but he couldn't place names to all of the faces he recognized. That's when a relatively large man with a bowl cut hairstyle and incredibly bushy eyebrows ran up to Kakashi.

"KAKASHIII!" roared the man, barreling straight into Kakashi. Kakashi continued to keep reading, and dodged at the last second, throwing this man over his body. The man crashed into the wall behind them.

"Guy, you're an idiot." Kakashi sneered under his breath.

"I heard that," groaned Guy.

Yamato stared at the two with bewildered eyes, looking back and forth. "What the hell?" He finally let out.

"Don't worry about him." Kakashi brushed it off like it was nothing.

"O-okay..," stammered Yamato.

That was when another man approached them.

"Kakashi," loomed the deep voice, "what is going on here?"

The man had long, silky black hair which was pulled back in a loose pony tail. He had prominent stress lines on both sides of his face, starting at the inner corners of his eyes and extending out in a diagonal down to about halfway down his cheeks. He wore a black long sleeved V neck shirt under his Jonin vest, along with royal blue body armor pants. His fingernails were painted black, and his eyes were dark as well, darker than Yamatos. Looking into his eyes was like looking into an abyss of emotions that most people attempt to stay away from. He had a poker face that was almost terrifying; it was as if he had no feelings whatsoever. Yamato gulped.

The man looked at the newcomer. "There's no need to be afraid of me." He reached out his hand, looking Yamato dead in the eyes. "I'm Itachi."

 _Itachi? Itachi Uchiha? The guy who graduated from the Academy and begun a career with ANBU, becoming the captain at thirteen? What's he doing here?_ Yamato immediately grasped his hand and shook it. "Yamato." Being brought up in the sector of ANBU that was loyal to Danzo, he didn't get the chance to be around those who were loyal to the Hokage that often.

Itachi nodded, then let go and turned back to Kakashi. Guy had gotten up and was brushing himself off, muttering to himself about Kakashi being an ass.

"Well, if there's no trouble here, I'll be on my way." Itachi began to turn back, but then Kakashi looked up from his book.

"Oh, by the way," Kakashi's smooth voice rang out. Itachi stopped and looked back slightly.

"Congratulations on your promotion. I heard you are now taking over your father's position as the captain of the task force." Kakashi smiled at his old comrade sincerely, reminiscing about the days he had been Itachi's superior. Those days didn't last long.

Itachi stood for a moment, and then closed his eyes and leaned his face downwards, as if out of humbleness. "Thank you."

With that, he started walking towards the tables and continued to help everyone set up. Kakashi looked around for familiar faces, recognizing almost everyone there, and even waved at a few who had their eyes on him. Yamato and Guy began to introduce themselves to each other. Guy then placed his arm around Kakashi's shoulders and guided him towards the tables. "So, after all this time, you're finally going to help us out with the kids, huh?"

Yamato could feel Kakashi rolling his eyes.

"Yeah," Kakashi replied. "I needed to get out of ANBU."

That's when Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks, visions of incidents from the past flashing through his mind. He could still see the blood on his hands...

DINNER TIME

"Yamato!" Kakashi yelled from inside their cabin. "Hurry up, we're going to be late."

Yamato flew out of the shower, barely keeping his towel up as his slid on his boxers and struggled to get his jeans back on due to the rush. "Throw my shirt over here!" he said from the bathroom.

 _Ugh, this guy is going to be the death of me._ Kakashi rolled up the shirt Yamato requested and threw it at the bathroom door like a ball.

Yamato flung the door open and grabbed the shirt, throwing it on and then quickly scruffing up his hair with the towel in an attempt to dry it quicker.

"Thank you, Senpai."

"Shut up." Sneered Kakashi. "I'm going to leave your ass behind," Kakashi stated as he started walking out the cabin door.

"I'm right behind you!" detested Yamato, slipping on his shoes and running out to catch up with Kakashi.

In the distance, they could see the four kids they were assigned to walking along the path, Sakura ridiculously close to Sasuke, Sasuke leaning away from her, Naruto trying desperately to get Sakura's attention, and Sai following behind the group.

"Huh. That kid doesn't really seem to belong, does he," noticed Kakashi.

Yamato nodded, recognizing him from ANBU. Sai was one of the kids who grew up under Danzo's faction, he knew that much. He wondered himself how he ended up with the Academy students.

"Perhaps it's because he didn't grow up in the main part of town, so he's having a hard time associating," Yamato commented.

"I see."

They had arrived in the mess hall. All the tables had been set up in rows, with the food tables placed around the perimeter of the room. To the left of the entrance were plates, cups, and plastic silverware, along with napkins and the sort. Next to that, towards the front of the room, was a salad bar. In the front was appetizers and the main meals, and to the right were drinks and desserts, with the dining tables set directly in the middle. There were already people lining up to eat, and people who had gotten their food already sitting down.

Kakashi scanned the room, looking for a place for the six of them to sit. He decided he'd let the rest of them get their food first, so that he could save seats for them. He wasn't all that hungry, anyways.

"You kids go on ahead. Yamato, if you would like, go ahead and get food, too. I'll find us seating."

"Alright!" exclaimed Naruto, immediately rushing off to start getting food.

The other three begun to follow, Sakura trying to convince Sasuke to consider their time at dinner a date. While Sakura continued to annoy Sasuke, Sai looked back at Kakashi and asked,

"Would you like me to bring you anything?"

"No, thank you. I'm not all that hungry right now."

"Alright." Sai took off after the rest of the group.

Kakashi looked at Yamato. "Aren't you going to go?"

"No. I'm not really hungry either."

Kakashi gave Yamato the most disgusted look he had ever seen.

"What?!" Yamato let out, irritated that Kakashi seemed to have such a problem with him.

"No, nothing." Kakashi started walking towards the tables to find seating.

Yamato balled his hands into fists in frustration. _God, how is he so popular when he's such an ass?_

DURING DINNER

"Can I have your attention please?" A deep voice rang out over the clamoring of all the people in the hall. A gradual silence overcame the crowd, and everyone's heads turned towards the speaker.

"Welcome to Konoha Summer Camp." Itachi spoke as if his voice was a fine wine. His chin was lifted, his shoulders squares, and arms held in authoritative fashion behind his back. A cheer went up from the crowd, as the campers begun to get excited.

Kakashi immediately felt Sasuke's attitude change at the sight of his brother. He looked proud, even somewhat happy.

"Isn't that your brother?" Sakura confirmed with Sasuke.

"Yes, it is." Sasuke spoke in admiration.

Itachi waited for the cheering to die down.

"Here at the camp, we have a few rules." He spoke again, this time a bit more serious. "There will be no fighting amongst each other. When doing camp activities, you will always obey your counselors. During free time, you are not allowed off the camp site without an instructor." He waited for a moment to let his words sink in.

"That being said," he continued, "tonight, we want you to relax and have fun. So please, enjoy your meals, and remember that this camp experience is to prepare you for the Chunin Exams. That being said, you will all have an early start in the morning." He paused. "Lastly, don't forget that nine o'clock is when we will be hosting the bonfire. You may sleep outside within the marked areas around the bonfire, or you may sleep in your cabins." Itachi then walked back to his seat, where all the higher ups, including Tsunade, were eating.

An excited murmur came from the kids. Of course they all wanted to sleep outside. Even if it was training, they _were_ camping, after all.

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Sai all finished their meals fairly quickly, and now Kakashi and Yamato were both beginning to get hungry. They both packed food on their plates to take back to the cabin, and led the kids out back towards their cabins.

"Are you going to be staying out tonight or coming back in?" Yamato asked the kids.

The four of them looked at each other, and all nodded in agreement. Then Sakura answered, "we'll be outside."

 _Sweet_ , Kakashi thought, _I don't have to go out there then._

"Alright," Kakashi said, "then make sure you have your sleeping bags and that you are in your pajamas. I won't be coming out tonight."

"Why not?!" shouted Naruto. Kakashi winced.

"Because I'm not interested." With that, Kakashi headed off to the cabin he would have to share with Yamato.

SOMETIME DURING THE NIGHT

 _No... Rin..._ Kakashi tossed and turned in his sleep, having thrashed his blanket and pillow off the bed. _I'll help you... Don't die on me..._ Kakashi could clearly see the images behind the closed lids of his eyes. Obito _... why... I can still fix this..._ more images flashed through his mind. _I can still save us..._

Kakashi felt something touch him. He woke with a start, flying to the edge of the bed opposite of where the touch came from, his heart pounding, the blood pulsing through his ears, making it almost impossible to hear combined with the sound of his chest heaving up and down in a panic.

"Senpai?" He heard a distorted voice and saw the shadow standing over him. He continued to pant, raising his arms up to protect himself.

"Senpai!" Yamato said forcefully, trying to get Kakashi's attention.

"Huh...?" Kakashi looked around, still panting, but gradually realizing he was safe. He put his arms down.

"Are you okay?" Yamato inquired, staring at Kakashi with furrowed eyebrows, concern painted all over his face.

"...I thought I told you not to call me that..." it finally registered to Kakashi. He sat up straight and picked up his pillow and blanket from the floor. "Why did you wake me?"

"You were obviously having a nightmare." Yamato scowled. "Are you alright?" He asked again.

Kakashi looked away, staying silent for a moment. Finally, quietly he said,

"Don't worry about it." He looked down at his hands, still seeing the blood that was on them. Yamato observed as he watched Kakashi try to subtly wiped off his hands with the blanket, even though there was clearly nothing on them.

Yamato didn't understand. "Fine then," he snorted. "I was just worried." Yamato walked out of the room and back into the common area of the cabin. He plopped down on the couch, crossed his legs and placed his arms behind his head, staring in annoyance at the ceiling fan that slowly turned above him.

 _Why does he deject me?_ _What did I ever do to him?_ Yamato wondered, beginning to lose respect for the man he had aspired to become like. That's when he heard the scream.

Yamato flew off the couch and ran back into Kakashi's room to see what had happened. Kakashi was huddled in the corner of the room, now desperately and violently trying to scrub his hands off of what appeared to be nothing. "It won't come off," Kakashi stammered, half through tears, "it won't come off!" Yamato walked over to Kakashi and tried to understand what was going on. Even though he saw nothing, Kakashi obviously did.

Kakashi had rubbed and scratched at his own hands so forcefully that they had actually started bleeding. Yamato kneeled down in front of him, placing his hands on his shoulders, noticing how frightened Kakashi actually was. Immediately, Yamato's attitude towards him softened, and he pulled him up him and led him to the living room.

Yamato turned all the lights on, and placed a blanket around Kakashi. He was still muttering about something not coming off, and he didn't understand, but he figured he would ask later. He went into the kitchen and started boiling water for tea. As soon as it was ready, he opened up a bag of chamomile tea, placed it in the water, and stirred it with a spoon, walking over to Kakashi again and placing it in his hands.

"Drink this. It will calm you down." Yamato ordered. Kakashi didn't hesitate. He shakily pressed the cup to his lips and started sipping.

Yamato noticed that Kakashi's pupils were dilated. _That can't be good..._ Yamato slowly started to realize Kakashi was showing signs of traumatic stress. But from what? He didn't know, and didn't feel like it was his place to ask. _Perhaps this is why he left ANBU?_ Yamato mused theories around in his head, but then pushed them to the back of his mind.

Yamato looked over once again at Kakashi. It seemed as if some color had returned back to his face. His pupils were beginning to return to normal. Yamato sat in the chair opposite of Kakashi, leaning on the arm and resting his cheek in the palm of his hand, waiting for Kakashi to snap fully out of it.


	3. Chapter 3

The following morning, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Sai were all waiting on Yamato and Kakashi to arrive at their cabin.

"They better hurry up," said Naruto, crossing his arms, "we're going to be late."

"We won't be late, idiot," Sasuke snorted, looking at his watch on his right wrist. "It's only six-fifteen!We still have forty five minutes before we are all supposed to meet. Why did you make us get ready so early anyways?"

"Well if you didn't want to get ready, you didn't have to, moron." Naruto murmured under his breath, looking slightly down and away from Sasuke, as if that would make it harder for him to hear.

Naruto immediately felt a fist grabbing at the collar of his shirt, pulling his body weight up against gravity. "Say that again," Sasuke challenged.

"Uh- I mean- I said- It was-" Naruto tried to recover from his obvious mistake desperately, as Sasuke had one fist raised in the air and the other clenched around the fabric of his shirt.

"Guys, guys!" Sakura pleaded in an attempt to get them to settle down, "there's no need to fight! I'm sure Kakashi and Yamato will be here shortly!" She let out a nervous laugh. That was when both Sasuke and Naruto got knocked to the ground with a grunt of effort.

Sai, standing over the two other boys, looked down and dropped his hands back down to his sides. "You two really are annoying." He sighed over dramatically, and looked up towards the sky, placing his hands on his waist. "I don't want to have to keep cleaning up your mess."

"Ehh?!" Naruto was beginning to get pissed. "How can you say that? No one even notices you!"

"ENOUGH!" Sakura screamed out. A flock of crows somewhere cawed in response to her, and flew out and away from the scene. Everyone, in shock, stared at her.

"I don't want to spend the entirety of our time here having to deal with your nonsense." She closed her eyes tightly. "It's not fair!" She punched the air around her. "It makes me so angry! I just want to have a good time with Sasuke! And Naruto!" She pointed at him and glared, "you keep getting in the way!" Then she turned to glare at Sai. "Sai! You better be nice to my friends!"

"Am I not your friend, then?"

"NO!" was the response from all three. Sai immediately began to sulk.

"I see..."

"What do you see?" rung out a deep, sultry voice.

The kids all stared as Itachi revealed himself from behind one of the cabins. Sasuke's attitude immediately lightened. "Itachi!"

Itachi walked towards Sasuke, smiling gently down at him with sincerity, and patted him softly on the head. "The lot of you are being much too loud so early in the morning. We've gotten a few complaints."

He turned towards his younger brother. "You should know better, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked down in embarrassment. "Sorry..."

Itachi smiled again at Sasuke, and then turned towards the others. "What's going on here?"

Immediately, Naruto popped off with a, "It's Sasuke's fault!" Then Sakura began to defend him.

"No, it's your fault! You made us get up too early!"

 _Really, they're fighting over being up too early?_ Itachi frowned to himself. _So unlike what I've taught Sasuke..._

Itachi cut them both off. "Regardless of who's fault it is, your group is already one of the most dysfunctional to enter the camp grounds. If you don't figure out how to cooperate with each other, I'm afraid you'll be put on suspension from the exams."

Naruto gulped. "Y...yes sir..."

"Hey, Itachi-!" Another voice rang out.

Itachi turned to see Kakashi and Yamato approaching the scene. Kakashi, trying desperately to hide his fatigue, smiled and waved.

"You look like hell." Itachi observed. He looked over Yamato as well. "Both of you."

"Yeah well..." Kakashi began, uncertain of how to answer.

"We just had trouble sleeping, that's all. It should be better tonight now that we are used to the cabin." Yamato completed. Itachi analyzed Yamato's face, and noticed right away the twitch in the corner of his lip as he spoke, indicating that what he had just said was a lie. Kakashi turned to look at Yamato in shock, but also with gratitude. He hoped Yamato could read his eyes.

Itachi didn't bother to call them out. "I hope that's the case." He looked at his watch. "Well, we will be going over the agenda for the rest of the week in twenty minutes. I'm going to head over to the main hall now." Before walking away, he approached Sasuke again. Sasuke looked up, hopeful to gain praise.

"Don't cause any more problems, alright? Mom and Dad didn't die for you to be an ass."

Sasuke couldn't even reply. He lowered his head in disappointment. "Yeah..."

AROUND NOON

"Man, this is stupid," grumbled Naruto. He ran his fingers over the corners of the list he was holding in his hands while walking down the mountain trail. "How are we supposed to find all of these?"

"Well, that's where your schooling comes in. I hope you paid attention. Knowing the difference between a blue berry and a nightshade berry may save your life one day." Kakashi spoke clearly, forcing himself to focus on the task ahead of him.

"I love scavenger hunts!" Sakura chimed in. She also had a list. "I know all of the plants! I could easily find all of these. A lot of these are used for food pills and medicines." She had already stopped along the way to pick up a few items off the list.

Sai had been walking around with a notebook and pencil, sketching out some of the flowers and berries that Sakura would point out. Sakura was pleasantly surprised to see that Sai had such a soft side to him. She would consistently check on his progress with his sketches and ask him questions about how he learned to draw. He would always chuckle something along the lines of, "oh it's really nothing..." or, "I just taught myself."

Kakashi noticed Sasuke getting slightly jealous over the lack of attention Sakura had been giving to him, and tried to pretend like he hadn't caught on. Yamato was scouting ahead and jumping trees to look for certain birds, since they had to bring back a pigeon feather.

"SON OF A BI-" they all heard Yamato's cry out from ahead, followed by a thud, and then heavy footsteps running towards them. They soon saw Yamato fly out from the brush onto the main trail, swatting something around him.

"Oh no-"

"Bees?"

"HORNETS!"

They began to hear the humming sound of the swarm that was after Yamato. It didn't take them long to figure out that he must have accidentally found and broke a hornet's nest.

"RUN!" he screamed. Immediately everyone started running farther along the trail, Sakura being the one following closely behind the rest of the group. No matter how fast she ran, it felt like everyone else was running so much faster. She tried to match their pace, but ended up disrupting her chakra balance in doing so, and tripped, face planting. She turned to look behind her and saw she was doomed, as the swarm was right on her.

"OWWW!" her cries rang out as she got stung by not one, not two, but three hornets as they passed over her and continued to follow the group.

"Sakura!" Naruto cried out as if to help her back up, but Kakashi grabbed his arm, pulled him off the trail, and threw him under a bush, following Yamato and the rest into the brush to attempt to hide from the bees.

They waited until they knew for sure they were clear to come back out again, and Naruto flew out and ran back to Sakura. They could hear her moaning in pain now.

Sakura could feel her breathing begin to get shallow, and she noticed it was now difficult to swallow. Her face began to swell, as well as the other places she had been stung, which made her vision blurry. She started to panic. She was now having a hard time breathing.

"Oh no.." she realized, trying desperately to calm down, but the more she tried the more she panicked. "I'm allergic?!"

Naruto arrived, closely followed by the rest of the group, and they all stopped dead in their tracks as soon as they saw the swollen figure on the ground, wheezing.

"Oh shit." Yamato sprung to Sakura's side, taking off his backpack and digging around for something. Finally, he pulled out an epi-pen, took off the cap, and stabbed her with the needle in her thigh. He injected the epinephrine, and then took out the needle and tossed the pen aside. "She needs medical attention immediately!" He scooped her up in his arms, and began sprinting back towards the camp site, shouting, "Tsunade! Medical emergency! Someone get Tsunade!"

"Welp, there goes the scavenger hunt." Kakashi sighed and put his hands in his pockets, beginning to walk back after Yamato.

"Maybe we should stop and pick up flowers for her?" Sai suggested.

Naruto's face lit up. "Yeah! Then she'll know how much I love her! Er, I mean.." He tried to search for a way to recover.

"She'll appreciate it from us." Sasuke concluded. "Sai," he turned towards him. "You were the one drawing all the ones she pointed out. I think we should pick some of those."

Sai smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I think she'd like that too." He then thought for a moment. "Does this mean we're all friends now?"

Sasuke glared at him and simply didn't reply. Naruto grunted and said, "Yeah, sure, as long as it makes Sakura happy."

AROUND THREE HOURS LATER

"Sakura, you have visitors," the nurse announced, opening the curtain to her hospital bed. She had been admitted for surveillance and was being kept on a saline drip. Yamato had stayed with her to ensure she was fine.

"Oh, bring them in."

The nurse let in the five people who were waiting outside to greet her.

"Sakura! How are you feeling?" Naruto immediately started off. "We picked you some flowers!" He held out the bundle of flowers the three boys had picked for her.

"Oh, thank you!" Sakura accepted the flowers and begun to smell them. She smiled. "Ah, they smell so good! You really didn't have to do that." She placed the flowers down on the stand beside the bed.

"It was Sai's idea." Sasuke explained, attempting to act carefree.

Sakura looked at Sai in shock to see his pale face blush slightly as he chuckled nervously and scratched his head.

"Really?" Sakura asked. "How thoughtful.." she trailed off, now feeling guilty for the way she had treated him before.

"I just thought you might like them," he smiled at her reassuringly. She returned the smile.

"I'm really feeling much better now! Yamato carried me all the way here and stayed to make sure I was alright. He got me everything I needed." She smiled at Yamato, and then returned to talking. "It turns out I'm allergic to hornets, but Tsunade took care of me." She started explaining. Kakashi started to tune her out as she spoke of Yamato's actions.

 _Really, I never expected him to be so paternal. Even with me..._ Kakashi shifted his stance as he was now focused on Yamato, who seemed to be concentrating solely on Sakura. _What's his deal? There's got to be something more to it. Why does he feel the need to help everyone?_ _I'm impressed he was strong enough to even carry her, let alone have the energy to remain by her side even after not sleeping much..._

"Kakashi?" his thoughts were cut off by Sakura's voice. He turned to see her and everyone else looking at him curiously.

"Oh.. yes?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, why?"

"I was asking you a question..."

"Oh, I'm sorry," his eyes flicked back towards Yamato, who was now staring intently at him with those dark, serious eyes. "I zoned out."


	4. Chapter 4

SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE OF THE CAMP

"Shit, I can't see anything!"

It was dark outside, almost pitch black, with the moon light mostly covered by the massive amounts of leaves that the trees in the woods had produced. Only feint amounts of moonlight filtered through every now and then, however it was not enough light for this man to know exactly where he was heading.

After walking for what seemed like hours, finally he had come to a clearing. Here, he could clearly see the meadow that was lit by the moon, and the figure standing in the center, waiting. The moon light shone brilliantly off of the weapon that was being held by the one in the center, causing a ray of light to be reflected right into the eyes of the first man.

"Deidara..." the second man mused. "You're late." He chuckled in a condescending manner. The man now turned to face Deidara directly, holding his triple bladed axe loosely across his bare shoulders. His silver/gray hair glistened in the moon light, and his brown eyes looked across the way almost tauntingly.

Deidara, now almost at arms length away from Hidan, stopped and scoffed, brushing back his long, blond bangs to expose his ominous blue eyes. "I couldn't find my way. It's not my fault I can't see a damn thing around here."

Hidan suddenly got serious. "Did you find what we needed?" He placed his blade down in an upright postion, as if to use for standing support.

"Yes. It's about two kilometers away from here, going east."

"How many people?"

"Maybe two hundred."

Hidan let out a bloodthirsty laugh. "Ah, what a wonderful turnout..." He quickly turned and started walking the opposite way of which Deidara came from.

"Hey- where are you going?"

Hidan looked back over his shoulder. "Of course, we have to report this."

"Oh, right." Deidara quickly followed behind Hidan back into the abyss of trees and shrubs.

MIDNIGHT

 **Ring ring.**

Itachi groaned, his face grimacing as he was gradually forced awake. He turned over to his side, facing away from his phone.

 **Ring ring.**

"Ugh..fuck.." Itachi, now aggitated as well as disoriented, reached behind him and tapped around the stand, feeling for his phone.

 **Ring ring.**

He grabbed the phone and quickly flipped it open, bringing it to his ear with his eyes still closed. He took a moment to collect himself.

"..Hello?"

"Sir, we have a security breach."

Itachi took less than a second to process what he just heard. He eyes flew open and he shot straight up in his bed.

"Where?" His tone was much more assertive now as he was wide awake.

"Sector four."

"Is there anyone on the scene?"

"Yes, we have sent out two squads to check it out. They should be arriving as we speak."

"When was the breach recorded?"

"About ten minutes ago."

"Any surveillance footage on who it could be?"

"That's the thing sir... it appears these two are escaped convicts."

Itachi felt his heart skip a beat. _Two escaped convicts?_ He remained silent.

"We did a background check on these two, and it seems they have been the target of recruitment, just like the other escapees..."

Itachi's eyes narrowed as he pieced the new information together.

"If you get any more information, give me a call." He hung up his phone and held it in his hand momentarily, then placed it back down on the stand. _Two more... that's four in one month._

Itachi closed his eyes and held his chin in his hand, contemplating what this meant. Suddenly he remembered an encounter he had about two years before. _It couldn't be..._

TWO YEARS BEFORE

His heart was pounding. _Did I lose them?_ Itachi's cover was blown. He had ran as far and as fast as he could away from the warehouse, and now he had come up to a dead end. He figured he had gone far enough, and decided to rest for a moment to figure out what to do next.

"Did you really think you could out run us?"

 _Shit._ Itachi, lowering his head and balling his hands into fists, beared his teeth in frustration, and started grinding them, a bad habit he had developed after the death of his parents. Slowly he turned around to face his opponents, reactivating his sharingan. His eyes glowed a beastly shade of red.

There were three men in front of him, blocking him in. He had no choice. He would have to fight.

"Itachi... the legend child of the Uchiha..," the man in the middle of the three sneered. "Don't you think it's a waste to throw away your kind of skill?" The two behind him chuckled as a sort of response. Itachi narrowed his eyes at the man.

The man had black, long hair, similar to Itachi's, only it was much thicker, and this man seemed to prefer his hair be down. He had a muscular build and was not all that much taller than Itachi, but his very aura seemed to loom over the entire area. He kept his face half hidden behind his hair, yet the way he carried himself showed that he thought very highly of himself.

Itachi remained silent, lifting his chin up to match his opponent's gaze. He was not afraid of death.

"Oh... I see..." the man entertained. "You think you're strong enough to handle us?" He smiled viciously towards Itachi.

Itachi grunted, and reluctantly answered, "My skills are derived from my passion to protect those who are dear to me."

"Then why couldn't you save your parents?"

Itachi felt his whole world shatter. _Bastard! How dare he?! He has no place!_

The man started laughing maniacally. "Why don't you put your skill to good use and join us? We knew you were watching all along- you played right into our hands." The man spit on the ground, and then looked up at Itachi challengingly. "Or are we going to have to kill you?"

"I'd gladly die before you use me for one of your schemes," Itachi snarled in reply, drawing out his katana from his back sheath, preparing to fight.

"Oh, is that so?" The three men unsheathed their weapons as well, and gave him no room to answer. Immediately, the three of them sprinted towards Itachi, raising their weapons, getting ready for the kill. Itachi stood in a defensive position, placing his left foot forward slightly, leaning back on his right, depending on the weight transfer to him him move more fluidly. All he needed was to meet the gaze of his opponent, but it seemed they knew better.

The man on the right approached first with an overhand swing. Itachi ducked swiftly, turning on his heel and bringing his katana around and up towards the man's chest. It was an immediate hit. Quickly, he drew the sword out and blocked the slash that was aimed at his head from the one on the left. The man in the middle was hovering over, bringing down his sword on what would have been Itachi's head. A flash of a familiar red shade crossed Itachi's view, catching him off guard. _What the-?_

Suddenly, a smoke bomb went off. Itachi felt someone's sword slash across his chest, and in response, threw his body backwards up against the brick wall that cut him off from the other side of the street. He grimaced at the stinging sensation from his wound, raising his right arm to put pressure on the gash that extended from the center of the right side of his upper rib cage, all the way across to the left side. He held his katana in his left hand, having to rely on his sharingan to help him see the chakra traces of his enemies. He could hear the other two men coughing.

"Never think that you are safe, Uchiha Itachi," the leader threatened. Itachi could swear he felt the burning of another sharingan staring him down.

Out of what seemed like thin air, Kakashi appeared before him using his teleportation jutsu, wrapping his arm around his back and under his left underarm, and they teleported away from the scene, as far as the jutsu would allow. They left the three in the alley as they began to dash from building to building until finally they were back on a road that could get them out.

Kakashi led Itachi to the ANBU infirmary. Itachi was now trying to hold back yelps and groans of pain, as the stinging and burning sensation was only getting worse by the second. As soon as they walked into the front door, Itachi could no longer bear the pain, and collapsed on the floor, writhing in pain.

"Someone get him on a gurney!"

A crew of emergency medics immediately got him on an IV and tore open his clothing to expose the now inflamed, discolored, and swelling scar.

"He's going septic!"

Right after one of the nurses said that, Itachi began to vomit violently. The group rushed him off to the ICU.

A FEW DAYS AFTER THE INCIDENT

"How are you feeling?" Kakashi was sitting on the edge of Itachi's bed when he finally awoke from his coma.

"..Kakashi.." Itachi tried to raise his head, but was still too weak,

"Just lay still for a bit." _Thank God he's finally awake._ In an attempt to lighten the mood, Kakashi then said with a smile, "You see? This is why I want to leave ANBU."

Itachi let out a weak laugh. "Right."

Kakashi then realized Itachi was probably scorched, and proceeded to help raise him up and position his pillows in such a way to where he could at least drink water. Kakashi grabbed the cup that was waiting to be used off the stand, filled it with water from the pitcher, and pressed the cup to Itachi's lips.

"Here."

Itachi softly raised his hands to grab a hold of the cup. After taking a few sips, he said,

"You know, I know you're older than me, but you don't have to baby me."

Kakashi frowned. "Apparently I do. What where you thinking back there, going off on your own? Idiot."

Itachi let out a heavy sigh, proceeded to take another sip of his water, and then placed the cup down.

"We had gotten quite a few complaints about people breaking into homes and reports about people who had gone missing." He paused to gain his breath.

"After thorough investigating, I discovered that these were done by the same group of people. At first it was just one person, but then it turned into five." He took a moment to organize his thoughts. "We were able to capture two of them, however they both killed themselves shortly after being apprehended." Itachi's gaze then turned grim. "So, I took it upon myself to try to find out more information about what this group was planning. I felt that there had to be something bigger going on. It just didn't make sense..." His words quietly trailed off.

"Well," started Kakashi, "next time, be more careful. If the town loses you, we will suffer heavily."

Itachi nodded. "Yeah. Thanks." He couldn't shake the image of another pair of sharingan eyes staring at him. It couldn't be possible. No, it wasn't possible...


	5. Chapter 5

POST MIDNIGHT, PRESENT DAY

Kakashi and Yamato were both sound asleep in their cabin when they heard a knock at the door. Yamato, having been asleep on the couch, woke with a start at the sound. In the bedroom, Kakashi turned over to look at the time on the clock. It was three A.M.

As Kakashi slunk out of the bed and dragged his feet out into the living room, Yamato had already opened the door. It was Itachi.

"I hope I didn't wake you."

"What else would we be doing at three in the morning?" Kakashi popped off with sass.

Itachi brushed off the smart remark.

"Sorry...anyway, something has developed."

"Please, come in." Yamato invited through a yawn, covering his mouth in an attempt to not be rude. "Tea?"

"Please."

Yamato sludged off to the kitchen to boil some water. Kakashi and Itachi both sat down in the chairs in the main room.

"Kakashi..." Itachi paused for a moment, gathering his words. "Do you remember that incident a couple of years ago?"

"Yes." Kakashi began to feel as if he knew where this was going. Why else would Itachi wake them up at three in the morning to bring up something from the past? Yamato walked back towards the main room and leaned against the wall next to the kitchen, crossing his arms and listening closely.

"It would appear that two criminals have escaped from the prison. I got the call around midnight and decided to look into it a little more." He paused, trying to figure out how he was going to say the next part.

"I believe these two were assisted in their escape."

"What do you mean?" Yamato asked. "You mean one of our people let them out?"

"No." Itachi tried again to find the best way to put it. "I think that the prison was most likely infiltrated, and that these two were given an opportunity to join a certain group of criminals in order to get out of their sentence. Given their criminal history, it would only make sense that these two were targeted by who I think."

"But who would do that?" Yamato began to get frustrated. Kakashi glanced over at Yamato. _He's still young and inexperienced. He doesn't know half of the world of people out there_ , Kakashi thought to himself.

"A couple of years ago, there was a group of people who-" the tea pot on the stove began to whistle, cutting Itachi off.

"Oh, sorry." Yamato went back into the kitchen and prepared three cups of tea. Itachi waited to continue until he came back to the living room, placing a tray of three cups and the kettle of water on the living room table. He offered both Itachi and Kakashi a cup. Kakashi politely declined. Then Yamato sat down.

Itachi took a sip of his tea before continuing.

"There was a group of people I was investigating a while back. They started out as a group of five, however two of them committed suicide after being capture by some members of the force." He sipped again, and then cleared his throat. His lowered his deep voice. "The five of them broke into homes at first. Then, people began to go missing. To this day, none of the missing people have been found." He sighed heavily. "To me, it didn't make sense. What was the connection between robbing houses and people going missing? Two completely different types of crimes shouldn't have been connected. However," Itachi paused, taking another sip, "after further investigation, I found out that these people weren't simply robbing houses. They were gathering information about all the families that they had robbed. I believe they were doing this to decipher who they would kidnap, or kill."

Yamato and Kakashi both looked at each other uneasily. Itachi shifted his position.

"There doesn't seem to be much of a pattern on who went missing. They were all abducted at random times and days, and all at different places throughout town. Either, they have no reason, or they were being very careful not to be traced back to anything."

"In other words, you don't know their true motive," Kakashi summed up.

"Correct." Itachi confirmed. "Only..." he hesitated.

Yamato leaned forward slightly in anticipation.

"These two who escaped... they were brought in for murder."

A COUPLE HOURS LATER

"Yamato..."

"Yeah?"

Kakashi walked out of his room and back into the dark living room. He could see Yamato's silhouette laying on the couch.

"Still awake, huh?"

"Yep."

"Mind if I sit?"

Kakashi heard Yamato's movements as he sat upright and turned on the lamp that was on the stand next to the couch. The light was dim, but it was enough.

"Are you okay, senpai?"

Kakashi's eyebrow twitched. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?"

"Sorry. I've looked up to you for as long as I can remember. Even as a kid, you always excelled at everything you did. You were a legend back in school." Yamato paused for a second, and then smiled sheepishly. "If I had known you were an ass, I probably wouldn't have sought to follow in your footsteps."

Kakashi let out a small chuckle.

"Listen, about the other night-"

"You're still on that?" Yamato cut him off, almost in annoyance. Kakashi's eyes widened in shock at his assertion, but only for a split second. Yamato didn't miss it, however.

"Kakashi," Yamato started, "do you even remember what happened that night?"

Kakashi looked down, subconsciously beginning to rub at his hands again. "Not entirely. I remember bits and pieces, but... it's the same every time." He looked away. Suddenly he felt a firm grip around his wrists. He looked down.

"Did you even realize you were doing that just now?" Yamato stared Kakashi dead in the eyes.

"Doing what?" Kakashi asked, almost in bewilderment.

"Exactly," concluded Yamato. "That night, you were screaming about something not coming off your hands. You had started scratching and rubbing at your own flesh until you literally scratched yourself raw." Yamato hardened his grip on Kakashi's wrists. "I had to clean and treat your hands. You weren't mentally here for hours."

Kakashi's eyes started to water, and he lowered his head in shame. Yamato slowly let go of his wrists, and Kakashi placed them neatly back into his own lap.

"I'm sorry I put you through so much trouble," Kakashi spoke quietly.

Yamato looked at him sympathetically. "Senpa- er, Kakashi..." He corrected himself. He gently placed his hand on Kakashi's shoulder for reassurance. "You shouldn't hide the past. You are only damaging yourself." Kakashi looked up in wounded surprise to see Yamato smiling gently at him.

"How did you..." Kakashi trailed off.

"It's not hard to tell," Yamato explained. "The signs you exhibit are clear signs of trauma. You need to figure out how to deal with your demons, Kakashi. Bottling them up does you no good." He removed his hand from Kakashi's shoulder and leaned back slightly, getting more comfortable. "Would you like to talk about it?"

Kakashi had never before been confronted by someone so understanding and willing to listen. _What are you, my therapist?_ Kakashi had to correct himself. _No, he's right... I can't keep being bitter._ He sighed heavily. "Alright..." he hesitated. "I suppose you have a right to know, since you're working with me anyways."

Kakashi took a deep breath, clenching his fists in his lap, and then relaxing.

"Years ago, as I'm sure you already know, I was involved in a small group of people who spied on neighboring villages and got information about military forces around the country."

Yamato nodded.

Kakashi sighed. "Back then, even though I was young, I was promoted to being the leader of a smaller squad. Shortly after, we were given a job to try to infiltrate and get information on an enemy village. We were misinformed to the situation, and my team ended up getting caught in... well, a shitty situation."

The memories began to flash through Kakashi's mind.

"Two of my closest friends..." his voice began to crack. He cleared his throat, apologized, and carried on. "Obito and Rin. I had no one else in the world, and I relied on them to help guide me through a hard time in my life. You see, my father had just killed himself... and I never spoke about it, but they knew I was struggling... and they still accepted me."

Kakashi clenched his fists again. "But this time... I couldn't help them." He gritted his teeth, unable to keep a tear from streaming down his face as he lowered his head once again. His hair began to fall in front of his face. _Why am I admitting this to him, of all people?_ _It doesn't matter, I can't make myself stop now._ Kakashi began arguing with himself.

"Rin was taken. They used her as bait to lure us in. We had no idea what we were walking in to." Kakashi's voice was unsteady, and he breathed harder, attempting to control his voice better. Again he cleared his throat and continued.

"We found her tied up in a room. She was out of it, she had no idea what was going on or what happened. To this day I believe they tortured her the entire time she was being held hostage." He began clenching his fists so hard that he thought he was going to break his own skin. "Obito and I... we didn't stop to think it was strange that there was no one there guarding her. We just saw her and took the chance to recover her. We didn't notice.." he struggled through more tears. "We didn't notice anything wrong until it was too late." He paused for a moment, trying to organize his memories to where he didn't have to relive that moment again.

"We managed to carry her outside and what we thought was safely away, but by the time we had found her, it was already too late." His voice cracked, and he began to lose control. "Those bastards implanted a bomb in her. Obito and I had no idea what to do. And, Obito loved her... so much so that he was willing to hold her hand and die right there with her when it went off. I tried to pull him away, but he refused... so I ended up deciding to try to remove the bomb myself." He started shaking profusely, desperately trying to remain in control.

Yamato listened intently, now with his hand on Kakashi's arm as a way to keep him grounded while he continued.

"So I took my knife... and I cut open her stomach, where she said she felt the pain, and I saw the bomb. But they-they had implanted it in such a way that if I had taken it out, she would have died from blood loss. Obito was convinced we could bring her back in time, but I knew it was hopeless... but I couldn't risk all three of us dying. So I carried on anyways." Kakashi choked on a few tears, sniffling a few times, and clearing his throat. "I didn't know anything about medical ninjutsu, but I managed to remove the bomb, however I had no way of disabling it. And Rin was so pale- she lost so much blood..." Kakashi glanced down at his hands again, remembering everything clearly.

"Then, Obito suddenly threw himself over the bomb. He screamed at me to take Rin and run. I didn't even question it, I simply picked her up the best I could and made it maybe five feet before the blast knocked me down. By the time I had gotten back up..." Kakashi couldn't hold it in anymore.

Sobbing, Kakashi fell over into Yamato, wrapping his arms tightly around himself for comfort. The pit of despair he felt welling up was too much for him. "O-Obito was bleeding out too... His last words..." he choked again, his throat burning from the sobs. "He wanted me to save Rin... but when I looked back...she was already dead."

Yamato ran his fingers through Kakashi's hair, attempting to soothe him. "It's not your fault Kakashi."

"But it is," Kakashi wailed. "If I hadn't taken them there- if I had gone alone-" Yamato cut him off.

"Kakashi," Yamato cupped Kakashi's face in his hands and moved his face so that he had no choice but to face him. "Look at me."

Kakashi opened his eyes and forced himself to breath more deeply in an attempt to calm down. His throat burned more than ever.

"It's not your fault."

Kakashi's eyes watered again, this time with warm tears. He placed his own hands over Yamato's and stared back up at him, his feelings of despair beginning to mix with feelings of absolution as he sobbed hard, turning so that his face was against Yamato's torso, clutching onto him for support. Yamato continued to hold Kakashi and ran his fingers through his hair until he stopped crying, and even then continued until they both fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

"Where are Kakashi and Yamato?" Sakura noticed the two missing from the group. Sasuke turned to look around the main hall, where everyone was currently eating breakfast.

"Who knows?" He shrugged it off and piled on some scrambled eggs onto his plate and continued to move down the line.

"Perhaps something happened," Sai guessed, picking up various different small breakfast foods.

"Nah, they're probably fine," Naruto replied. "I mean, we're talking about Kakashi. If anything happened, he would have taken care of it." He slapped some oatmeal into a bowl and offered Sakura some as well. She shook her head.

The four of them remained quiet while getting the rest of their food, and then headed to a table together. As they sat down, Kakashi and Yamato walked through the entrance to the hall.

"See? They're fine," Naruto pointed out, still chewing his food.

"It's rude to talk with your mouth full," Sakura scolded.

"What are you, my mom?" Naruto laughed teasingly, poking Sakura's arm. She slapped his hand away.

"Just eat your food," Sasuke's face twitched in annoyance at the two.

As they continued to eat, they watched Kakashi and Yamato get their food together. They didn't speak to each other at all, aside from pointing at a piece of food that the other could grab more easily, and exchanging said item. Then they made their way to the table.

Sai didn't know if he was reading too much into it, but he could swear there was a sort of tension between the two. He figured it was better not to ask, and started sketching out a picture of the apple he had picked up. Immediately, Sakura took interest and leaned over the table to watch.

Naruto couldn't take the silence for very long.

"So," he started, obnoxiously loud, "today we're training in taijutsu, right?"

Yamato nodded. "That's correct."

Naruto started to get excited. "Are we gonna learn how to be super bad ass, like the Hyuga's and the Uchiha?"

"Idiot, the Uchiha specialize in genjutsu," Sasuke popped off, already sick of Naruto for the day.

"Whatever, you know what I meant." Naruto glared at Sasuke, the corner of his lip twitching.

"No, obviously, I don't know what you mean," Sasuke couldn't help the smart ass remark. Naruto slammed his hands on the table and stood up. Sasuke quickly did the same.

Sakura, having been sitting in the middle of them, let out a squeal of fear and ducked down, covering her head with her hands.

Yamato began laughing nervously, motioning for the two to sit back down. "Guys, can we not do this today? It's been a long night."

By this point, Kakashi had teleported behind the two boys. He pressed his hands on their shoulders, and shoved the both of them back down, causing their plates and utensils to clatter onto the floor.

"I won't teach either of you anything if you don't behave!"

There was a dead silence. Everyone was staring at the group of six. Yamato laughed nervously again, praying no one of importance saw. He didn't want these kids to ruin their own chance for the Chunin Exams.

Kakashi sighed, and walked out of the main hall, leaving his food behind. As he walked out, he bumped into Itachi.

"Sorry," he muttered, not looking up to see who he had bumped into, not caring enough to read their chakra signature either, and tried to continue walking.

"Kakashi," Itachi turned and spoke assertively.

Kakashi stopped and faced Itachi. "Oh, I'm sorry..."

Itachi eyed Kakashi. "You still look like hell."

"Didn't sleep."

"I thought you solved that?"

"Yeah well... just had a long night. You know."

"I see."

Kakashi nodded in confirmation, shifting uneasily, wanting to leave.

"I am going to need your help with something." Itachi's smooth voice seemed to be accompanied by a cold chill.

Kakashi blinked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I'm assigning ANBU around the village to keep watch. We're short a few members, since they've been sent out on recon missions, and the task force members are too busy with interrogations, so I had to resort to asking you. I was actually on my way to ask you now." He thought for a moment. "You can decline if you wish, but I would hope that you take into consideration how beneficial your skills will be to us."

Kakashi entertained the thought in his mind, knowing that Itachi was simply trying to butter him up. He looked down, cheeking his tongue to the side of his mouth thoughtfully.

"Alright," he decided. "It shouldn't be a problem." Actually, this was a huge problem, but if the Hokage had OK'd Itachi's request to ask Kakashi, he figured he had no choice anyways.

Itachi nodded. "Thank you. Your first post is tonight on the west side of the village at nine."

"Understood." Kakashi thought for a moment.

"One more thing," Itachi added.

Kakashi eyed him inquisitively.

"You'll be partnered with Yamato," he resolved, and then walked inside.

 _Wait-what? Yamato?_ Kakashi was dumbfounded. Then it hit him like a brick. Yamato is ANBU as well _. How did I not recognize him?_ Ashamed, Kakashi walked back to the cabin. _That makes more sense, then... I feel like an ass._

OUTSIDE OF CAMP

It was around midday. The sound of birds singing echoed throughout the forest. Stealthily, the two men walked so that they barely made a sound. Nature seemed to pay them no mind, as they weren't upsetting anything around them. After a long while of silence between the two, Deidara let out a long, exasperated sigh, making it obvious he had something on his mind.

Brushing back his blond bangs and tucking them loosely behind his ear, only to have them fall in front of his face again, he questioned, "how many of us are there?"

Hidan looked over at Deidara. "I'm unsure."

Throwing his arms up and placing his hands behind his head, as if opening up his lungs to take in more oxygen, Deidara stated,

"I don't really understand what it is we are supposed to be doing for this guy, but as long as I'm free to do as I wish, I suppose I can't really complain."

Hidan couldn't help a cynical smile parting his thin lips as he continued to walk, his fingers itching to glide across the triplet-blade he had sheathed on his back, looking up at the clouds through the leaves of the trees.

"As long as we get to kill, that's all I care about." He ran his tongue along his bottom lip, tasting the blood from his past victims. He started to laugh maniacally. "To take a life... that is true judgment!"

At the sound of his exclamation, birds shrieked and flew away from the trees. The chirping and buzzing of insects around them had ceased. An eerie silence drifted among the two.

"Yes, well, _I_ for one have decided to give up that kind of lifestyle," Deidara glanced at Hidan in contempt. "We were caught for a reason."

"But now we're free," Hidan mused. "We have been chosen. We must fulfill our duties to our best extent. Everything we do, we do for Jashin."

Deidara groaned at that reply.

"Speak for yourself."

All Hidan ever spoke about was his cult religion. Killing people to worship some God wasn't something Deidara could ever really entertain, but hey, whatever works, right?

The two continued on for a while longer, until suddenly, they heard a faint crunching sound on the path. They froze, dead in their spot, analyzing the forest around them.

 **Chhh.** Another crunch. A few more, subtly growing louder. In the distance, a figure was walking towards them. It did not appear that this person had noticed their presence yet.

Hidan's smile stole his lips once again as he turned towards Deidara, arching an eyebrow with excitement.

"Shall we claim our first victim?"

"If you do, I will not partake."

Hidan then turned his attention back towards the person ahead, gracefully unsheathing his blade and proceeding to examine it. He narrowed his eyes, still smiling with lunacy. He lightly fingered the edge of the blade, allowing for a small cut on his middle fingertip. He watched as a drop of his crimson blood spilled out and dripped down his finger. Then, wrapping both hands around the handle, he prepared for his attack.

The person ahead of them had become visible. He seemed young, definitely still in adolescence. With his hands in his jean pockets, he walked in such a way that told the world he didn't care about anything. He stared down the two men in front of him, noticing full well that they weren't from around the area. He continued to walk straight towards them anyways, the spitting image of teenage angst.

Hidan took this as a challenge. He couldn't wait to kill his new prey. Deidara took a few steps back, sat down, crossed his legs and leaned his elbow on his knee, resting his chin in the palm of his hand, ready to enjoy the view.

The boy, after getting close enough to be within earshot, stopped and stared down the man standing before him.

"What do you want?" The boy glared at the man, annoyance strung in his voice.

Hidan begun to laugh hysterically. "What a disrespectful way to talk to your elders!" He laughed harder, bent over, holding his side, beginning to tear up from the joy. "This will be an exciting death." He then immediately stopped laughing and straightened up.

"A rule of mine is that I don't kill without knowing my victim's name." He pointed the edge of his blade towards his opponent. "Your name?"

The boy sneered. "I don't have time for this." He turned around and began to walk back. Hidan grit his teeth in annoyance, and began charging at the boy. Just as he was about to come down from his over hand blow, the boy pulled out a knife, and, in an instant, ducked, turned on his heel, and countered the triple sickle-like blade with the blade of his knife. Hidan's gaze was met by the blood red hue of the boy's Sharingan.

"Oh? What's this?" Hidan mused.

"You're getting old, Hidan," Deidara commented as a response before letting him finish. Hidan grunted in frustration. _That fucker better shut up before I take him out, too._ He then went for a side slash. Once again, his attack was blocked. He pushed himself backwards, trying to create an opening to hit his target, however this time the boy came at him, attempting to slash his throat. He used his arm, not caring about wounds, to block the knife and knocked the knife out of the kid's hand. The boy stepped back and pulled out another knife from his ninja kit.

After a series of charged hits and blocks, the two yet again were pressed against each others' blades. A drop of sweat dripped off of Hidan's forehead as he pushed all his weight into his weapon.

"My, the is the first time I've ever had to work for a kill," he stated with a dash of annoyance in his eccentric tone.

The boy only stared as a response. Hidan then jumped backwards, and lowered his sword. Looking down at the boy, he once again asked for a name. The boy remained silent.

Hidan threw down his sword, and, out of irritation, commented, "Your parents must have been daft, not to teach you manners."

The boy was now vexed at the mentioning of his parents. He, too, dropped his blade.

"Sasuke. Uchiha, Sasuke."

"Sasuke..." Hidan let the name sink in. "Why don't you work with us, Sasuke? Someone with skills like that could come in handy. Not to mention, a Sharingan user." A smirk appeared, slightly parting his lips.

"I couldn't care less to work for anyone with the likes of you." Sasuke turned around once again, beginning to walk away.

"Oh? Why is that?"

Sasuke stopped, sighed, and slowly looked over his shoulder. He eyed the two men behind him, contemplating whether they were worth the explanation. He finally decided.

"It's people like you who killed my parents."

A momentary silence that seemed like years occurred. Hidan then begun to chuckle quietly. Deidara had stood up again, picking up Hidan's weapon and handing it back to him. He sheathed it, but not before running his fingers up and down the blade once more.

"Well, that's too bad," he purred. "I can't help but get the feeling you would like the cause we are after."

This caught Sasuke's interest.

"Is that so?"


	7. Chapter 7

The cool evening breeze blew through Kakashi's hair as he walked silently down the campground's main road and towards the village, his hands in his pockets. Around him, the camp was full of life. Outside of their cabins, kids played and talked to one another. Laughter and playful shrieks could be heard, although to him the sounds seemed muffled. He was only subconsciously aware of what was going on around him. There was something else occupying his mind.

After finally talking about the past with Yamato, he felt... different. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but he knew that there was something off. Was it him? Was it Yamato? He couldn't shake the feeling that began to well in his gut. Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He stopped and looked to see who it was.

It was Yamato, leaning his head slightly to the side and smiling.

Relief.

Kakashi couldn't help the almost overwhelming warmth that replaced the bitter feeling he had at this sight of the man standing before him. He could feel his pupils dilate and then recede back to normal from the rush of dopamine flooding his brain. _What is this?_ Kakashi couldn't help a small smile from appearing on his lips.

"Yo," was all he could stupidly muster. _This isn't normal. Be cool._ Kakashi exhaled sharply, attempting to change the pace of his increasing heart rate.

"Itachi told me that we are partnering up for watch."

"I see." The corner of Kakashi's lip twitched..

"Yeah," Yamato entertained, "it's been a while since I've been assigned anything other than being a body guard for Danzo. I'm a little disappointed though; this isn't much different."

Kakashi wasn't really paying attention. Under no circumstances did he want to admit that he actually cared about this guy. However, he didn't understand why he felt this way. It could have simply been a matter of pride, but he didn't want to admit that he had a problem with his ego, either. Instead of risking a response that would give him away, he simply turned and began walking again.

As a response to this, Yamato became irritated. _What the fuck. I was fucking talking to him._ He began to grind his teeth. _Fucking asshole._ He exhaled through his nose sharply, not being very cautious to hide the fact he was annoyed.

Kakashi glanced over his shoulder to look back at the steaming tea pot behind him. In an effort to see what he had done without giving himself away, he said,

"You alright there, buddy?"

 _Buddy?_

Yamato lost it.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Buddy? Are you serious?" He slapped Kakashi on the back of the head hard.

"Ow, fuck!" Kakashi immediately placed his hand where the stinging sensation was coming from and turned around, furious.

"What the hell! Why would you do that?" Kakashi hissed. _Is this guy nuts?_ He glared at Yamato, who was now staring intensely at the ground, his fists balled up, trembling. Kakashi had never seen a grown man get so emotional. After realizing the state Yamato was in, he began to feel bad. Perhaps there was something else going on that he didn't realize. He knew he had been being an asshole, anyways.

"I have spent all this time, regardless of your behavior towards me, being nothing but kind to you, dealing with you being a jerk, and you pop off with a smart ass, careless remark like 'buddy?' You don't even have the decency to address me with a proper title," he accused.

Kakashi was pained upon hearing this. "Yamato..."

Yamato looked up, grief in his eyes. "I just want to be respected by you. I wanted to compare to you. Growing up in The Foundation and then meeting you and hearing your story, that's all I ever wanted. Even though you're only a few years older than me, everyone treated you like..." he trailed off, trying to think of the right word. Unable to find it, he continued anyways.

"Everyone in this town knows your name. And now that I have the chance here to work with you... I realize that it was fucking stupid to ever want to be like you."

Yamato's words were like stabs to Kakashi's soul. He had not even stopped to take into consideration how his actions in this life would have affected other people. He hadn't ever before dreamed that he would be someone anyone looked up to. He began to feel a pain that he was well acquainted with.

Guilt.

Yamato felt incredibly stupid for being so emotional over something so small. _There's starving children in the world,_ he thought to himself, trying to make himself feel guilty for getting so worked up. _Don't be such a bitch._ A tear formed without his consent down his cheek, and dripped onto the ground. He looked back down, more angry with himself now than at Kakashi. _Fuck, pull yourself together!_

Kakashi couldn't bear to see anyone, let alone Yamato, in so much inner turmoil. He stepped towards Yamato's quivering body, and placed his hand on his shoulder. Yamato looked up in shock, tears streaming down his face. He had no idea what to do, and instinctively attempted to pull away, only for Kakashi to pull him in to his chest and wrap his arms around him tightly.

Yamato felt his heart skip a beat. Kakashi, not realizing that he was taller than Yamato until just then, leaned his chin on top of his soft, chestnut colored hair.

"I'm sorry." Kakashi's voice was sincere.

Yamato did his best to stifle the sobs that were wanting to escape from his throat, however he could not control the stream of tears now falling down his face and onto the fabric covering Kakashi's chest. His heart was racing, and he began to feel his face burning as the blood rose to his cheeks. He could smell a faint scent of cologne on Kakashi's skin, perhaps from his shower soap? Or maybe his laundry detergent. Whichever it was, he liked it. Slowly he relaxed his muscled from trembling, feeling his body grow warm with comfort, and he loosely wrapped his arms around Kakashi's mid torso.

Kakashi held the position for only a few moments longer, not wanting to break away right as Yamato got comfortable in fear of another break down. However, after a few seconds, he cleared his throat, leaned down, and gently said,

"We should get going."

"Oh," Yamato realized they were still standing where they could be seen, and had somewhere to be. He pulled away and straightened up, but not before getting one last whiff of Kakashi's scent. "Right." He cleared his throat, and wiped away the remaining tears from his face.

 _What have I gotten myself into?_ Kakashi knew this probably was not going to lead anywhere good and he should turn back right then and there, but there was a side of him that was curious to see what would happen now. He didn't like not having things planned out, but he couldn't help but feel differently around Yamato. Together they continued to walk towards the post they had been assigned to.

IN THE CAMPGROUND

"Uhh, Sakura..?" Naruto hesitated, not wanting to ruin the moment he was having with Sakura, but also worried about where Sasuke had gone.

"Yeah?"

"Shouldn't Sasuke have been back by now?"

Sakura looked around, realizing that it had been quite some time now since Sasuke said he was going to be "right back." She had gotten carried away watching Sai paint the setting sun on the easel he had set up out front of the cabin. Naruto had no idea that's what had actually been captivating her.

"Oh," she quickly stood up from her sitting position, and began to walk down the porch steps of the cabin, where they had been resting, enjoying the summer evening. "You're right." She looked at her watch, realizing it had been hours since Sasuke left. She was immediately furious with herself for not noticing until now.

Sai, having heard the conversation, stopped painting and turned around. "Should we go look for him? He's not allowed out of the camp ground without one of the instructors, right?"

"What'll happened if they find out?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know," Sai admitted. Naruto closed in on the group, folding his arms thoughtfully.

"We should just go look for him around here. He couldn't have gotten far."

"Actually-" Sai was about to pop off with a smart ass remark.

"Shut up," Naruto cut him off, already knowing he was going to say something contradictory to what he had just suggested.

"What if we don't find him?" Sakura asked, beginning to pick at her nails anxiously, already fearing the worst.

"Don't worry, Sakura," Naruto smiled at her reassuringly. "If anything did happen, Sasuke's tough."

Sakura nodded.

"If we don't find him, we should go to Itachi. He may know where he is, or at least how to find him, since they're brothers," Sai proposed.

The three agreed, and set out around the camp to find Sasuke.


	8. Chapter 8

Sasuke walked through the forest, feeling burdened by the weight that Hidan's words carried. He knew there had to be a catch to the offer, but he just couldn't figure out what it would be. There was one thing that stood out in his mind, though. He could still hear Hidan's voice, silky yet unnerving, in his head.

"Your brother has been acquainted with us." Hidan had actually only heard of Itachi, but recognizing the last name, he used it to his advantage. Sasuke had no knowledge of this fact.

Sasuke debated back and forth; _Did they really know Itachi? Would Itachi even support a group like them? Had he been lied to his entire life? Who was Itachi, truly?_ Sasuke only grew more and more frustrated as the answers continued to hide in the shadows.

He knew he would get in trouble for going out of the camp without someone accompanying him. If he went to ask Itachi, that would surely have been discovered. However, he couldn't bear not knowing what was really going on.

"We stand for a..." he could hear Hidan's voice trail off, almost teasingly, as if he knew he had already captivated Sasuke with this new vision, in his head. "A better tomorrow." The words echoed.

Sasuke shook his head forcefully. _What does this mean? A better tomorrow?_ There was something about the way that he said it that felt... sinister. He shivered. He didn't know how he felt about it. They gave him a meeting location they would be at the next day to give them an answer, but he didn't feel like it was enough time to really decide.

Bitterly, he hurried towards camp. He knew Sakura was probably making everyone else worried about him by now and needed to get back before anyone important knew he was gone. He didn't really know why he felt the need to leave in the first place, he just felt something pulling him towards the woods. _Maybe those two were pulling me in...?_ He didn't know he if wanted to know for sure or not. He quickened his pace, being careful not to be seen by anyone keeping post as he neared the campsite, and snuck back in.

INSIDE CAMP

"We looked everywhere and still can't find him..." Sakura nearly cried out.

Sai and Naruto both sighed.

"Should we tell Itachi?"

"Tell Itachi what?"

The three of them jumped at the sound of Sasuke's voice. They spun around at the same time, seeing Sasuke standing in front of them.

"What the hell- Where did you go?!" Sakura nearly punched Sasuke in the face, she was so angry. "You had me worried sick!"

"I figured," Sasuke replied cooly, with a slight smile appearing in the corner of his lips.

Naruto, frowning now that Sakura was giving him all her attention, grunted and refused to greet Sasuke. Sai, on the other hand, smiled kindly and welcomed him back to the group.

"What we we all supposed to be doing?" Sasuke asked, trying to avoid any conversation about where he went.

"I don't think anything is scheduled for the rest of the night. You haven't missed anything," Sai informed him.

"Maybe we should go attend tonight's bonfire?" Sakura suggested, her mood immediately changing from angry to hopeful.

Sasuke looked at her and sighed. He didn't want to think about the conversation he had in the forest anymore.

"You're annoying," he scoffed, meaning to be playful, but coming off harsh. He saw Sakura's complex drop completely. He tried to recover with a half smile. "But sure, let's go to the bonfire."

Sakura started squealing, wrapped her hands around his arm and leaned in close, leading him down the main path and towards the court yard, where the bonfire was being held. Sai quickly followed after them, and Naruto reluctantly trailed behind the group, cursing under his breath. The sun took it's last breath before disappearing under the horizon and leaving the world to be lit by the moon.

OUTSIDE CAMP

Kakashi and Yamato were keeping watch, Yamato smoking a cigarette and blowing the smoke out in circles into the cold night air, Kakashi leaning up against the bark of the tree looking out towards the leaves, forcing himself to focus straight ahead on the moonlit outline of the forest. He could feel the warmth from the smoke circling around him from behind the tree, only to turn cold by the night breeze. He didn't mind the smell so much, as long as it wasn't suffocating him. He heard Yamato drop the butt of his cigarette, and drag the cinders into the dirt with his shoe. Yamato came around to the front of the tree where Kakashi was sitting and sat down beside him.

"Don't you think it's a little strange," Yamato began, "that we get called, out of all the people, to post watch?"

Kakashi glanced at Yamato.

"Itachi said that a lot of the ANBU members were already busy."

"Is that so?"

"Well I can't say much for Danzo's faction," Kakashi attempted to acknowledge remembering Yamato with that statement, "but Itachi wouldn't lie about the Hokage's faction." The last part was meant to be a small tease.

Yamato thought about it for a moment.

"Well, Danzo didn't implement a lot of his policies until well after he took me in. In fact sometimes I feel like he used me to test out whether or not he'd create rules for the younger members."

"Did he force you to cut your hair, too?"

Yamato was slightly taken aback.

"You remember me after all?" he asked.

"Yeah," Kakashi smiled softly. "I'm sorry I didn't before. I realize how much of an ass I must have seemed."

Yamato was quiet.

"When's your birthday?" Was the only thing Kakashi could think to ask.

"August tenth," Yamato replied.

"Ah, that's tomorrow, isn't it?"

"Yeah... when's yours?"

"August fifteenth."

Yamato immediately laughed out upon hearing this. "Ha... two virgos... this ought to be interesting," he managed to get out between laughs. Kakashi had no interest in astrology, therefore had no idea what was wrong with two virgos being paired together. But, to be fair, he didn't really care to know. It was probably all bullshit anyways. He let Yamato have his laugh.

"So you'll be nineteen then?" Kakashi asked.

"Twenty."

"I see." _Well, I wasn't far off at all,_ Kakashi thought to himself.

"And you?" Yamato had never really thought about age being important, but he was still curious to know.

"Twenty four."

"Well, happy early birthday," Yamato chuckled, "old man."

"Hey now, at least I don't look like a kid," Kakashi got defensive. Yamato elbowed him and laughed more.

"I'm just kidding."

"Yeah, whatever." Kakashi shifted, throwing Yamato's elbow off of his arm. He couldn't help the smile that was plastered onto his face, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

"In all seriousness though, most people aren't high ranking at your age." Kakashi turned the tone back down.

"I just worked as hard as I could. I didn't really have anything else going for me." Yamato looked up at the stars through the tree leaves, a gust of wind somberly blowing through, cooling both of them. "I didn't really get to have much of a childhood... In fact, I don't remember a whole lot of it." He looked down at the ground, beginning to pick at his nails. Kakashi turned his head towards him, interested in hearing more.

"I remember bits and pieces... but most of it is fuzzy. I think I may have had an older sister, but I don't recall ever having parents. I was raised in The Foundation after being found by Danzo. We were hardly ever able to express our feelings. All we ever did was study and train. Those of us who found friends among each other, ended up having to fight each other to the death... it was easier not to have friends because of it... it took until I was old enough to be on my own to understand what any type of relationship was." He turned his head slightly towards Kakashi, neither sad nor happy, and he rested his hands on his lap. "I do remember dreaming about what I thought happiness was." He sighed, closing his eyes, trying to recall those dreams.

Kakashi's finger twitched, his hand resting on the damp ground, not too far away from Yamato's. He was still looking at Yamato, noticing the way his lips moved as he spoke, and the way he made his facial expressions. He felt a warm chill run down his spine.

"As I got older, those dreams slowly faded away. I didn't have anyone to talk to, I didn't have anything to feed my imagination. Being in ANBU began to take a toll on me, too. I remember hearing stories- awful ones. I guess I didn't realize how much they affected my hopes about life until it was too late." He opened his eyes again, gazing at the ground between him and Kakashi. Kakashi took a sharp inhale.

"I guess... there hasn't really been a whole lot to life that has made me really want to feel." A solemn tear dripped down Yamato's now emotionless face. "But, for some reason..." he trailed off, noticing Kakashi's hand slowly inching it's way towards his. "Lately I've been thinking..." he hesitated again, turning to look at Kakashi, slowly leaning in as he turned, not realizing Kakashi had already been doing the same as he moved his hand along the dirt. "Maybe... it would be nice..." He spoke softly as the tension between the two rose.

Yamato began moving his hand down towards Kakashi's, lightly tracing the tips of his fingers. He could feel his heart pounding out of his chest. Kakashi's eyes softened as his breathing became shorter. Their lips were so close they could feel each others' quivering breaths on their skin, their noses barely pressed to the side of each other.

"To begin to feel something again." Yamato whispered. He interlaced his fingers with Kakashi's, as Kakashi pressed his lips against Yamato's, sealing the space that was left between the two. They had only held the kiss for a moment, but it felt like years to them both. Kakashi then placed his free hand on Yamato's cheek, cupping his face before pulling away from his lips, and kissing his forehead adoringly. Yamato placed his hand over Kakashi's, enjoying the warmth that Kakashi gave him. He wanted to stay like that forever.


	9. Chapter 9

A few hours had gone by since their kiss, but they had hardly spoken to each other since. Kakashi and Yamato continued to sit against the bark of the tree together, Yamato leaning lightly against Kakashi, their fingers intertwined, both silently watching the forest around them. By now it must have at least been early morning, and Mother Nature had been quiet, aside from the chirping of crickets somewhere near by, and an occasional coo from an owl.

Then they heard something snap.

The both of them froze, their hands squeezing the other tightly, their senses on high alert as they scanned the area for other chakra signatures. Kakashi slowly and silently rose up, pulling Yamato up with him with the same amount of care.

A heartbeat.

A heavy figure dropped from the very tree they had been leaning against, landing directly behind Yamato. Before Yamato could react, the person had wrapped his left arm around his neck in a tight choke hold and placed a cloth over his nose and mouth with his right hand, then jerked his body away from Kakashi. Yamato let out a muffled scream as his fingers slipped from Kakashi's, realizing too late that he should have been holding his breath. Reacting, he grabbed the man's arm and dug his nails into his skin, attempting to break free from his grip. Kakashi panicked.

"Yamato!" His scream rung through the trees.

Deathly afraid of losing his new lover, he lunged forward in an attempt to knock the attacker on his back, which he hoped would have freed Yamato, only to miss by mere inches, landing on his hands and knees. The man took a few steps back, pulling Yamato with him. Kakashi looked up, positioning his weight on his feet, and watched as Yamato struggled to free himself while he pulled his throwing knife out from it's holster on his belt.

He began to take aim at the perpetrator, until he noticed Yamato's body beginning to stop struggling, his hands falling from their grip on the man's arm, weakly reaching out a hand for Kakashi. All Kakashi could do was gape in horror, pure agony painted on his face, fear clouding his eyes. Yamato desperately tried to keep eye contact with Kakashi, his vision growing blurry, his body suddenly feeling as if he was thrown into a pool of cement. He could no longer keep his eyes open, and he tried calling for Kakashi, still muffled by the cloth that was suffocating him, but his voice was too weak.

Tears began to well in Kakashi's eyes and stream down his face as Yamato's arm fell down to his side, and the rest of his body collapsed against the man, limply. Out of sheer rage, he let out a cry as he launched himself, knife in hand, at the man, only to be knocked down by something incredibly sharp and heavy.

A searing pain tore through Kakashi's lower torso. He was now on his side, dizzy from his head slamming the ground, with a weapon consisting of three blades in the shapes of sickles stuck about a quarter of the way inside of him. He was bleeding out already, a pool beginning to form under him.

"I normally don't like to use this when I'm not worshipping, however you are in my way," the sultry voice came tauntingly. A second man had appeared, his hair slicked back, shirtless. He leaned over Kakashi, who was now attempting to rise to his elbows with the triple-sickle still lodged in his body, and rested his foot on part of the blade so that his weight pressed the tips farther into Kakashi's torso. Kakashi nearly screamed out from the pain, being pressed back down into the dirt, the blades now close to halfway inside of him.

"Hidan, just kill him already." The first man's voice rang out, annoyed. "We have what we need for our bargain already, let's go. Hmmph!"

Kakashi paid careful mind to these words and he knew he would need them later to rescue Yamato. He looked up, his body trembling from the pain, to see if Yamato's condition had changed. He was now slung over the first man's shoulder. Kakashi grit his teeth.

"He'll die here anyways. The least I can give him in exchange for an shortened battle is a prolonged death." Hidan let out a maniacal laugh as he pulled out his weapon and shook the blood off in one forceful stroke. Kakashi winced in pain, staggering slightly onto his arm, coughing out blood. He glared at Hidan challengingly, attempting to get up again.

Hidan raised his eyebrow upon seeing this, and pulled out a kunai from behind his back, slashing Kakashi down the left side of his face, right over his eye. Kakashi cried out, immediately cupping his already bloody hands over his blinded eye, falling back onto his side.

"That's for having an attitude. You should be grateful I'm letting you experience death to it's fullest," Hidan slithered. "Let's go, Deidara." He kicked Kakashi in the abdomen, making him cough blood before turning around and accompanying Deidara, who was carrying the unconscious Yamato to wherever their destination was.

Kakashi spat more blood onto the ground as he coughed again, attempting to call out for Yamato once more. Curling tighter in pain, he let the fresh wound on his face bleed and clot as he applied as much pressure as he could to the three new gashes that would undoubtedly be his end. He heard birds beginning to chirp, meaning that sunrise was soon to follow. It would only be a matter of time before someone found him. He only needed to hold on as long as he could...

TWO HOURS LATER

Rays of sunlight shone modestly upon Kakashi's body, intermittently blinding his good eye. He could feel that his heart rate had slowed to a dangerous rate. He knew he was dying, but he couldn't let himself die before telling someone what happened, and the names he had heard exchanged. Breathing deeply caused him to hack up more blood, so he struggled to breathe as shallowly as he could, the tearing pain from his abdomen not making it easy. He needed to find Yamato. That was all he could focus on. He couldn't let _another_ one be taken from him. He closed his eyes, lining Yamato up right next to Obito and Rin...

Each time he thought of it, which was very frequently, he struggled not to burst into tears of agony and guilt ridden sorrow. If he had been paying more attention, if he had reacted sooner... He continued to blame himself. _I literally let him slip from my hands... his fingers... literally slipped from mine..._ He bent his head down, staring at the hands that ironically now actually _were_ covered in blood, but only seeing Yamato's fingers interlaced with his.

He couldn't help the sobs that followed after feeling the warmth of Yamato's hands slip from his over and over. Tears mixed with blood spilled from his blinded eye, while blood trickled down his face from the corner of his mouth as he cried harder. He hadn't realized how close to death he was until he heard distorted voices surrounding him. When he opened his eyes, he could only see the silhouettes of bodies rushing towards him, shouting, calling out to him. He felt his weight shift out from under him as he was gently placed on his back.

He stared up, looking straight past the fuzzy faces hovering over him, gazing at the tops of the trees that he could no longer distinguish. He felt the fabric of his shirt being ripped open, the cool morning air brushing against his skin as his wounds were now fully exposed. Someone began to pack gauze on the insides of his abdomen and someone else was pressing gauze over his left eye. It burned, but he was beginning to not feel the pain so much anymore.

He could tell that whoever was there were all trying to speak to him, trying to get his attention, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. He could only let out small groans and choked sounds in response, until he couldn't make any more sounds.

"Dammit, Kakashi, stay with us!" Itachi screamed at the top of his lungs, continuing to pack the pads of gauze and putting more anti septic over the remainder of his wound before covering it more. At least a dozen ANBU members had been called out to find them when Kakashi and Yamato hadn't reported back, most of them qualified medics, but none of them could do anymore without having the proper equipment. They were not prepared to come across a scene like this.

Finally Kakashi managed to cough out one word.

"Yamato..." was all he could muster before blacking out.


	10. Chapter 10

Yamato struggled to wake up. He couldn't remember what exactly had happened right away, only that _something_ definitely happened. As he drowsily rose his head, blinking his eyes as a single light bulb swayed gently above him, he realized he was in the middle of a empty room- well, almost empty. He tried to move, only to be caught by the bindings around his wrists, torso, and ankles, keeping him strapped down to the chair he was in. Gathering more information about his surroundings, he realized he was also hooked up to something that looked like an I.V., but instead of there being a bag of saline connected to the tubing, the tubing led directly to some sort of medical contraption that hissed quietly.

Then it hit him.

He desperately lunged forward with all his might upon remembering that he had been taken from Kakashi's very hands. Thrashing about in a sudden rage, he tried to escape, only to hear a loud _POP!_ And he couldn't keep the scream of pain from escaping his lips as his right shoulder flew out of it's socket.

The pain he felt was enough to make him jolt to the side so hard, that he managed to tip himself over, still bound to the chair, hitting the ground hard on his left side, leaving his dislocated shoulder exposed, and ripping the tubing out of his forearm, causing blood to seep from his skin.

He was thankful when he heard a door being unlatched and thrown open, despite his circumstances. He had ended up facing away from the door, and therefore could not see who had come in.

Groaning through gritted teeth, he hissed, "Pop it back in! Pop it back!"

He heard the footsteps behind him approach, and then felt two hands grab his arm: one hand on his shoulder and the other on his upper arm. He immediately squeezed his eyes shut, bearing his teeth, and prepared for the pain that was about to come.

His scream echoed through the room.

IN THE VILLAGE

"Clear!"

A doctor hovering over Kakashi's body, with nurses close by, waiting for instructions, pressed her chakra-induced palms against his skin. In sync with the sound of the discharge of chakra, Kakashi's body jolted up against gravity, trembling along with the electricity only slightly so, and then fell back against the table. The monotone flat line on the heart rate monitor had not deceased.

"Clear!" Tsunade heaved again, the sound of the charge up of chakra once again ringing throughout the room. One of the nurses shifted an uneasy look to his partner, whom returned the same glance. Kakashi's body heaved into the air again, and thudded back against the gurney.

After immediately being sent into surgery, during which the anesthetics seemed to have no use for, as he woke up in distress multiple times, his heart finally gave out. His abdomen still cut open and having been in the middle of desperate repair, they had no time to waste. Tsunade had been trying to revive him for just under five full minutes now.

Itachi demanded he be able to take part in the surgery, and Tsunade graced him with the opportunity to assist her. Now, he was watching as this woman, the Hokage, who was glorified in all of Konaha as the best medical nin and strongest kunoichi, hysterically tried to save a dead man.

"Clear!" she nearly sobbed. Itachi winced upon hearing her torment, knowing that she, too, had lost many, and didn't want to lose Kakashi, either. Itachi placed his hand on her shoulder, gravely looking down and to the side, unable to look upon his former mentor any longer. He felt her tremble under his fingers, having only been an inch away from Kakashi's bare chest.

"Tsunade..." he had difficulty keeping his own voice under control, which resulted in a hoarse whisper.

"We need to let him go..."

She struggled to keep her sobs quiet, unable to move her arms from the position they had been paralyzed in. Quivering, she slowly moved her bloody hands up to Kakashi's face, cupping his still-warm flesh in her hand, leaving traces of blood along his skin. Tears dripping down her face and onto his chest, she moved her hand farther up, brushing aside his unusual, ivory white hair, staining it with red.

Violently, she collapsed atop of him, wailing. Itachi did his best to soothe her, but seeing her in such a state had him on the verge of losing himself, as well. He couldn't imagine, if this was her reaction to Kakashi, how her reaction to Dan's death must have been...

"Kakashi..." She whispered quietly through her broken sobs, pounding his chest in anguish, her forehead brushing against his collarbone, "please come back..."

Suddenly, the flat line disappeared.

A beat.

Tsunade's head flew up, her makeup running down her face, as she stared in disbelief at the monitor. No one made a sound.

Another beat.

Tsunade looked down at the man beneath her and couldn't help the choked sound of pure euphoria as she saw his chest raise up and down, even if it _was_ only slight...

Itachi couldn't believe what he had just seen. Did Tsunade's break down actually save him? He gaped in joy, as well as disbelief, unable to say anything at all. Tsunade wiped her eyes and jolted back up, reactivating her chakra control, moving her attention back towards the gashes across his torso.

"Alright," she sniffed. "Time to finish putting him back together."

OUTSIDE OF THE HOSPITAL

The four adolescents walked around grimly. The rest of the village didn't seem to be changed at all. Couples walked arm in arm together, laughing and merrily chit-chatting with others around them. Children ran around in the morning sun, being scolded by their parents. Shops had been opening up and people emerging from their homes, like nothing had even happened.

But that was because to them, _nothing_ happened. It was just another day for the citizens of Konoha. Only the ninja and the people affiliated with them knew about the incident, and aside from that, the civilians didn't really care about what those who protected them were going through until something drastic happened.

 _Have I really been going through so much training for people to not give a damn?_ Sasuke thought bitterly. He looked at those accompanying him and wondered if they felt the same way he did. So many of the adults who served in this town started from a very young age, in fact that tended to be the norm. Anyone who wanted to serve the Hokage went to the academy, while the other children went to the public schools across the land.

He didn't know what he was more upset about. The fact that the people didn't seem to care about Kakashi's condition? Or the fact that Kakashi had ended up in need of critical care in the first place?

He couldn't help but feel uneasy when he thought about it. Somehow, he just knew that those two had something to do with it. Even though they spoke of restoring peace, or whatever bullshit he figured they probably had fabricated to persuade him to their side, he just _knew._ Because of his intuition, he couldn't help but feel guilty, either. He wondered if telling Itachi about his encounter could have prevented this from happening, but at the same time, he was unwilling to risk punishment for leaving the camp. Not that it mattered anymore anyways, as they shut down the camp and sent everyone back home. He decided he wouldn't go back to meet them after all.

Sai was the first one to speak out of all of them.

"Sakura, didn't you spend some time with the medical corps?"

"Yeah, actually."

"Do you have any idea what Kakashi's chances for survival are?"

Sakura remained quiet for some time. She didn't know all of the details, but judging from what she had heard when they were packing up earlier that morning, she knew that his chances weren't big.

"Slim, if any," she spoke softly.

Upon hearing this, Naruto almost exploded.

"Ah, come on! Kakashi is strong! He won't die!"

"Naruto," Sakura was careful with her words. "The fact that Kakashi was even still alive by the time he was found is extraordinary in itself..." She trailed off, unable to think of anything else to say that would provide comfort.

He grunted, and came to a stop behind the rest of them. Balling his fists, he looked down at the ground, attempting to control his anger.

"I just don't understand... Who would do something like that..." He clenched his teeth, forcing himself to stop.

Guilt ridden, Sasuke placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"It'll be alright..."


	11. Chapter 11

TWO WEEKS LATER

Grabbing the first bundle of flowers he could see, Sasuke was in and out of the Yamanaka flower shop within three minutes. He happened to grab peach colored azaleas, which he thought was a little too girly, but he didn't care that much. While he knew he was buying the flowers for Kakashi, he also knew that Itachi would be there by now, and talking to him was of utmost importance. He just needed an excuse to see him, because he knew if he had just walked up to his brother at any other time, he would probably blow him off.

He made his way to the hospital, quickly making his way through the groups of people walking around outside. He did his best to make sure he would not be seen by anyone who would report to Sakura that he had gone without her, as she had asked him earlier to go with her, and he had declined. However, he knew that if he had gone with her, he wouldn't be able to get the time to talk to Itachi alone.

He made it to the hospital without any trouble, aside from people bumping into him here and there. He signed in and made his way to his sensei's room.

About two weeks had passed since Kakashi was found, and he had only just woken up two days prior. Everyone was swarming him then, and he figured it would be best to let everyone else get their time in with him before attempting to see him. After all, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was his fault. He didn't really want to have to confront that possibility then, either.

Stopping in front of the door to Kakashi's room, he took a deep breath, and knocked.

"May I come in?" He asked, remembering his manners.

Itachi's voice answered in place of Kakashi's.

"Come in."

Sasuke opened the door, taking a moment to nod to his brother, who was staring at him blankly, and then closed the door. Kakashi smiled at Sasuke, an eye patch covering his left eye.

"What brings you here?" Kakashi asked.

"I just felt that I should come visit, since I didn't come yesterday or the day before." He set the flowers down on the stand beside Kakashi. "How are you feeling?"

Kakashi let out a soft _mm_ , looking down for a moment to gather his thoughts.

"I'm not quite sure," he responded with a small chuckle. "I suppose it could be worse, right?" He lightly touched the pad over his eye. "I'm still getting used to only having one good eye." He winced as he moved his arm back down. "And having three new cuts on my stomach doesn't really leave much room for comfort, either." He did his best to keep his complaints light, but he was honestly terrible at small talk, even though keeping conversations minimal was his strong point. Perhaps his lack of seriousness made people simply give up on talking to him.

Sasuke didn't know how to reply, only giving a slight nod of understanding,the room now in a slightly awkward silence.

"Did I interrupt something..?" Sasuke inquired hesitantly, shooting his brother a glance. He quickly looked back at Kakashi when he realized Itachi had already been looking at him.

"Oh no," Kakashi shook his head, "We were just chatting about the good ol' days, and how normally this situation would be reversed, weren't we, Itachi?" He grinned at the end of his statement.

Itachi grunted, and shifted his right leg over his left, crossing his arms and leaning back into his seat. He didn't answer.

Sasuke cleared his throat, wanting to move the conversation in such a way where he could ask Itachi to leave the room with him.

"Well, I'm glad you're doing okay." Sasuke then turned towards his brother, and in the most nonchalant way he could muster, asked, "Would you accompany me out for a moment?"

Itachi gracefully moved to his feet, his arms still crossed.

"Would you like anything while I'm up?" Itachi questioned Kakashi, knowing that he would go get himself some dango anyways.

"Hmm, perhaps some mochi, if you can manage it." Kakashi figured indulging his sweet tooth while he still could wouldn't hurt any more than he already was.

Itachi nodded, opening the door and walking out, leaving Sasuke to follow behind him.

"Uh-okay," Sasuke stammered, not expecting Itachi to comply so easily. "Uh, oh," he turned to Kakashi and bent over slightly, respectfully. "Excuse us." He then followed Itachi and closed the door behind him.

Itachi was already almost all the way down the hall. Sasuke jogged to catch up with him as he kept a brisk pace.

"What's on your mind?" Itachi looked down at his younger brother, having known something was bothering him from the moment he entered the room.

"Uh, well..." Sasuke didn't know how to just say what had happened, nor did he really want to have to explain all of it. He knew that his brother would probably be pissed for not saying something sooner, but at this point, not saying anything at all was only putting everyone at more risk.

"I mean," he continued coolly, "something happened that I think is my fault, and I don't really know how to handle it."

Itachi glanced at his brother while continuing to walk.

"Oh?"

"Well..." he lowered his voice. "I mean this happened a short while ago but I feel like because I didn't make a decision..." He took a few moments, slowing down slightly, forcing his brother to slow down with him.

Before he knew it, Itachi had actually let them to a small court yard that was in the middle of the hospital floor. It had an out door feeling, as there was a stone walk way and two ponds on either side of them, with a small, wide bridge stretching across the center where the two ponds connected. Itachi made his way to a bench that was positioned near the corner, facing the rest of the yard. Sasuke promptly sat down beside his brother.

Sasuke sighed, not knowing where to pick up. As he was about to speak, Itachi cut him off.

"You know, this would be a lot easier if you would just tell me the whole truth, and not bits and pieces."

Sasuke let out an almost annoyed exhale, and carefully thought about what he was going to do. If he told him the whole truth, there was a good chance he could get severely punished, now that Kakashi was hurt. But if he didn't, there wouldn't be a good chance that something could be done...

"Alright," Sasuke gave up. "It happened back in camp.

"I don't know why, but something was pulling me away from everyone. I ended up outside of the camp grounds alone, maybe about a kilometer out." He checked to see Itachi's expression.

Itachi's poker face was excellent.

Sasuke sighed again. "So before I knew it, I realized that I actually wasn't alone."

Itachi's eyebrow peaked up for a millisecond, then returned back to normal. Sasuke noticed.

"There were these two guys... but I had never seen them before. And as soon as I got close enough, one of them tried to attack me. Obviously, I defended myself, but instead of finishing me off, the guy who attacked me told me he wanted me to... well, join this... group."

Itachi stiffened.

Cautiously, Sasuke continued.

"I don't really remember a whole lot about their explanation of this group and what their intentions were, but I do remember them talking about how they wanted to restore peace. And when he asked for my name, he..."

Itachi stared sternly at his younger brother. Sasuke looked away.

"He told me you knew of this group. Er, or that you had run into them before. I don't remember, either way, they knew who you were." He glanced back at his brother. "They told me... that they would welcome me into this group, and that they liked the potential they saw in me. And the guy's name..." he shifted uncomfortably.

"The guy who charged at me, he said his name was Hidan. I don't remember the other guy's name."

Sasuke turned back fully towards his brother, expecting the worst.

But Itachi was completely motionless.

 _Hidan and Deidara..._ Itachi tried to keep his thoughts in order. _Those are the names Kakashi said he had overheard from his attackers. The two escapees from before...There's no doubt about it. They're Akatsuki._

He was impressed that his younger brother was able to hold his own against these two men, if it indeed was them. They were, after all, serial killers. Things were starting to slowly click together, like pieces of a puzzle slowly but surely coming together. Memories from his past assignments with ANBU and with the task force come forth to his memory, assigning bits and pieces of information together.

"Sasuke, I want you to fill out a report. You'll hand it to me when you're done. I'll make sure it gets to where it needs to be." He paused for a moment, then stood up.

"Now come on, let's get Kakashi's ice cream."

"Wait," Sasuke jumped up. "Aren't you going to tell me what that guy was talking about? What did he mean?"

Itachi squinted. "That doesn't concern you."

Sasuke scoffed. "Nothing ever has anything to do with me in your mind, not even when my own instructor gets hurt because I was stupid enough to not warn anyone."

"Don't start, Sasuke. I'm letting you off easy, why can't you just be grateful?"

"Grateful? What do I have to be grateful over? Ever since mom and dad died, you've been different. You hardly pay attention to me! I'm always alone; I always have to do shit on my own. You haven't even cooked a meal for me in years. When was the last time we sat down together and had breakfast?"

Itachi closed his eyes, exhaled sharply, and then re opened his eyes.

"The group they were talking about is a group of people I was assigned to spy on a few years ago. I ended up having my cover blown, and they almost killed me. Kakashi was actually the one who saved me. That's why he made that off hand comment earlier."

"I'm your own damn brother and I didn't even know about this." Sasuke couldn't keep the aggravation out of his voice. "What would I have done if you died, too?!"

"Arrangements would have been made for you to be able to sustain yourself."

"You say that like it's nothing."

"It's what we signed up for, Sasuke. This is what we are willing to do for the people we love; we follow through with these missions and are trained to do everything, even give our lives, for Konoha. That is what we do."

"God - Fuck Konoha! Konoha doesn't give a shit about us! Don't you see all the people every day who walk us by without any second thoughts? All the people who couldn't care less about the shit we do and go through, they don't give a damn!"

Itachi balled his fists at his sides, trying desperately not to hit his brother.

"We do this because we care. It's not for the valor. It's to protect those who we love the most." He then took one of his hands, and, pointing with both his index and middle fingers, poked Sasuke's forehead forcefully. "I do this to protect _you._ "

The two of them stayed frozen like that for a moment, Sasuke being on the verge of tears. Itachi softened his stance, and gently wrapped his arms around him, pulling his younger brother in for a hug.

"I don't hate you, Sasuke. I'm sorry I have not done everything that I could have to be the best brother I could be for you. If I could take the things that have happened back, I would in a heartbeat, if it meant easing your pain. I know how you have shouldered the death of our family; I have seen how it has affected you, and I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from that."

Tears fell down Sasuke's face. He was not expecting this to be the turn out of their conversation.

After a few moments, Itachi placed his hands on Sasuke's shoulders, taking a step back to look directly at him. "Now, how about we get that mochi? We'll get some dango, too. My treat."


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's note: Chapters 1-11 have been edited to make the story more along the canon lines. However, there are still some inconsistencies between the canon storyline and this fanfic. That is intended. If you are coming across this story before the rhirteenth of October, 2015, and just now keeping up with the story, please go back and re read. If you are coming across this at a later date, no worries. :)

Sorry for the inconvenience.

* * *

Yamato's shoulder was stiff and sore, but at least it had remained in place. Absolutely exhausted from being kept awake for over two days straight now, he couldn't help finding the smallest amount of comfort he could, given his current situation.

Still, he sat in a room, the only thing accompanying him being the damn machine that hummed quietly. He was grateful that, at least, he had been provided a cot to sleep on, instead of having to sleep in the chair he was tied to before. After undergoing hours of blood transfusions and having different medications administered for God knows what reasons, he was finally allowed to rest.

Everything seemed hazy, and he felt like he was going insane without knowing exactly what time it was, or how much time had gone by. The only thing he could think about was Kakashi. Where was he? What happened to him? Was he somewhere nearby? He knew that Kakashi had to be searching for him by now. He knew Kakashi wouldn't rest until he found him.

Every time Yamato closed his eyes, the last image he saw of Kakashi's face agonized him. He had never before seen that man look so terrified; in fact, he didn't think the man knew what fear was. But everything happened so suddenly, from their kiss to the attack. Yamato kept running the sequence of events over and over in his head, never seeming to be able to stop. However, he didn't necessarily want to stop. He had no way of knowing if he was going to die here, and if that was the case, he wanted Kakashi to be the last thing he thought of. He only wished he had the chance to tell him that he loved him somewhere down the road...

Then, Yamato heard the sound of the locks on the door moving. Someone was coming in. He tensed instinctively, all of his attention focused on the man who entered the room. He shut the door gently behind him, before proceeding cautiously towards Yamato.

 _There goes rest..._ Yamato thought. Not that he would have been able to sleep at all anyways; not without knowing what was going on. The man seemed to have picked up on Yamato's tension, as he gave a soft smile and raised his hands up, almost defensively.

"Now now," the man said, "I have no intention of hurting you."

 _Right, because you've basically been torturing me for the past however long now anyways,_ Yamato thought bitterly, eyeing the man. Something about him didn't seem sincere.

The man sat down in front of Yamato, brushing his long, black hair out of his face, before beginning to speak.

"Sorry we had to bring you in the way we did, but we knew you wouldn't have come of your own will." He cleared his throat before continuing. "You see, thanks to you, we have successfully been able to achieve something. Your blood samples, and the experiments we ran on you with the injections, have given us useful information. With that information, we were able to extract something powerful that you have, without having to kill you for it. Isn't that wonderful?" He gave a sort of sadistic smile, waiting enthusiastically for a response.

Yamato blinked at the man. He was still trying to process what he had just said. "So you were going to kill me had it not been successful?"

"Well, not exactly. We still need you for one more thing."

"So you intend to kill me after all."

"Why the interest in death? Do you want us to kill you?" the man's eyebrow peaked with intrigue.

Yamato couldn't believe how informal this guy was. _What a fucking ass._ His eye twitched. He changed the topic.

"Where am I?"

"Can't tell you."

"How long have I been here for?"

"About two weeks, now."

Yamato almost immediately began to panic upon hearing this. He had no idea it had actually been that long.

"Didn't feel that long, did it?" the man mused.

"...No.." Yamato replied quietly.

"That's because we drugged you."

A heartbeat.

"WELL NO SHIT, THANK YOU, I HAD NO IDEA." Yamato was steaming, crossing his arms and looking away in disgust. _What the hell is this guy's problem?_

The man let out a laugh. "My, what an ugly bark," he chuckled to himself.

Yamato let out a _hmmph_ , gripping his arms tighter to his chest, still looking away. There was a moment of silence before Yamato asked another question.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, how inconsiderate of me. Have you been here this whole time without knowing who we are?"

"I don't believe I had the chance to sit down and discuss names over tea," Yamato muttered.

Smirking, the man answered.

"You see, this here is an organization. We call ourselves 'Akatsuki.' The men who brought you here are Hidan and Deidara. There are others here, and they all have their own men who gather the resources and intel we need to operate. For example, we have Sasori, who's underling brings us information from someone who is infamous for his experiments. We have more members, but they aren't really of that much importance at the moment."

Yamato looked at the man before himself, his left eyebrow slightly perched. "And your name?"

"Madara. Uchiha, Madara."

Yamato was shocked. _Uchiha?_ The only remaining survivors of that clan were Itachi and Sasuke, and they were both loyal to Konoha. Was this man far removed? Maybe directly related? Or perhaps merely a coincidence? _No, it couldn't be..._

He decided not to comment on it.

"What's so special about me that you had to use me for your experiments?" Yamato looked sternly at Madara and spoke clearly.

"You mean you don't know?" Madara was beyond enthused.

"If I knew, would I be asking you?" Yamato couldn't keep his smart ass tone to himself.

Madara let out a _tch,_ before responding.

"You are a child of an experiment. I suppose you could say you aren't technically even a real human being because of it; you're _artificial,_ " he put emphasis on the last word, to make it really sink it. _"_ The man I mentioned early, he created you. I guess that would make him your father, but I suppose you wouldn't even know the meaning of one anyways, would you?" A sinister smile forced his lips apart.

Yamato's eyes widened. _How does he know I'm orphaned...?_

"I bet you're curious now, right? How do I know these things?" Madara kept musing. "You see, I've been watching for a while now. Waiting to see how you would grow into your own abilities. It seems your exceptional in a lot of areas, however you still haven't quite found your purpose yet, have you?"

Yamato felt uneasy. He felt like Madara had just stripped away every layer of his very being and exposed the core. This was something he kept very private; only Tsunade knew about this. He hadn't even told Kakashi yet. He decided to take a firm approach.

"I know my own purpose. My purpose is to serve Konoha," he spat matter of factly, raising his chin, glaring down at Madara.

A moment passed. Yamato's breathing quivered slightly.

Suddenly, he felt an immense pain as Madara sprung up and grabbed his face by his jaw, squeezing both sides of his jaw line as tight as he could. He peered down at the short haired brunette, his eyes now a burning shade of crimson.

Madara continued to keep his grip on Yamato's jaw with his right hand, as he quickly grabbed both of his wrists with his left, to keep him from thrashing about. He held Yamato's wrists against him, forcing him to keep still.

"You will _not_ speak to me in such a manner again," he snarled. He then threw Yamato back, turned around and began walking out the door.

"The truth is that now you're sole purpose is to lure your comrades here for me. You will watch them die before you, and then I will kill you."

Yamato spat on the ground and wiped the saliva from his face. Upon hearing this, he lunged forward at Madara.

Expecting this to be Yamato's response, he turned and locked eyes with his opponent. Yamato had played right into his hands. He activated his Mangekyo Sharingan.

Madara disappeared without a trace right before Yamato's very eyes. In shock, he stumbled, and then felt paralyzed. He fell back, feeling like he was falling through nothing as the room began to warp around him. All he could see that remained the same was the image of Madara's glowing red eyes circling around him, like a vulture circling it's dinner.

"This is my Mangekyo Sharingan," Madara's voice boomed throughout the void. The room continued to stretch and warp. "A mere few seconds in the real world will seem like years here."

Yamato stiffened. He had only heard of this technique before as Itachi's Tsukuyomi. As far as anyone else knew, he was the only one who could practice this. Clearly this was false information.

Before he could prepare himself for the worst, he got the sensation he was drowning. Water filled his lungs and he choked and gasped in pain as his chest convulsed, his body desperately trying to get rid of the sudden intrusion. Looking up, he could see the surface of the water. He attempted to swim up to freedom, his instincts taking over. No matter how hard he swam, he just kept getting farther and farther away. He could feel his body start to accept it's fate as he began to relax, starting to black out.

Just before he could succumb, he was laying on the ground of the room, coughing and sputtering as his lungs searched for oxygen again. He turned over, throwing up water as Madara watched him from the door.

"However, I can't kill you just yet," Madara concluded, and left, locking the door behind him.

Yamato's body burned and ached, wheezing as he tried to re-train himself how to breathe properly. He collapsed back down on the ground, his face pressed against the cool tile as he prayed for the strength to escape alive.


End file.
